Wake
by xXCherrydawnXx
Summary: When she'd beed kissing him, she'd been so hungry. It was unlike any hunger she'd ever felt before. Part of it was actual starvation, and that's why she bit him. That's what frightened her. The hunger inside her. Something was seriously wrong with her, and she had to stop it.
1. Ours

Wake

Prologue

Ours

Even over the sea, Clove could smell the blood on her. When she breathed in, it filed her with a familiar hunger that haunted her dreams. Except now it disgusted her, leaving a horrible taste in her mouth, because she knew where it came from.

"Is it done?" She asked. She stood on the rocky shore, staring over the sea, her back to her sister.

"You know it is." Rue said. Although Rue was angry, her voice still kept it's seductive edge, that alluring texture she could never completely erase. "No thanks to you."

Clove glanced back over her shoulder at Rue. Even in the dull light of the moon, Rue's black hair glistened, and her tanned skin seemed to glow. Fresh from eating, she looked even more beautiful than she had a few hours before.

A few droplets of blood splattered Clove's clothes, but Rue had mostly been spared from it, except for her right hand. It was stained crimson up to her elbow.

Clove's stomach rolled with both hunger and disgust, and she turned around again.

"Clove." Rue sighed and walked over to her. "You know it had to be done."

Clove didn't say anything for a moment. She just listened to the way the ocean sang to her, the water song calling for her.

"I know," Clove said finally, hoping her words didn't betray her true feelings. "But the timing is awful. We should've waited."

"I couldn't wait anymore," Rue insisted, and Clove wasn't sure if that was true or not. But Rue had made a decision, and Rue always got what she wanted.

"We don't have much time." Clove said, gesturing to the moon, nearly full above them, then looked over to Rue.

"I know. But I already told you, I've had my eye on someone." Rue smiled widely at her, showing her razor-sharp teeth. "And it won't be long before she's ours."


	2. Midnight Swim

The engine made a bizarre chugging sound, like a dying robot llama, followed by an ominous click-click. Then silence. Katniss turned the key harder, hoping that would somehow breathe life into the old Chevy, but it wouldn't even chug anymore. The llama had died.

"You have got to be kidding me," Katniss said, and cursed under her breath.

She'd worked her butt of to pay for this car. Between the long hours she spent training at the pool and keeping up on her schoolwork, she had little time for a steady job. That left her stuck babysitting the horrible Tennenmeyer boys. They put gum in her hair and poured bleach on her favorite sweater.

But she'd toughed it out. Katniss had been determined to get a car when she turned sixteen, even if that meant dealing with the Tennenmeyers. Her older sister, Prim, had gotten their father's old car as a hand-me down. Prim had offered to let Katniss drive it, but she had declined.

Mainly, Katniss needed her own car because neither Prim or her father readily approved of her late-night swims at Anthemusa Bay. They didn't live far from the bay, but the distance wasn't what bothered her family. It was the late-night part - and that was the thing that Katniss craved the most.

Out there, under the stars, the water seems like it went on forever. The bay met the sea, which in turn met the sky, and it all blended together like she was floating in an enternal loop. There was something magical about the bay at night, something that her family couldn't seem to understand.

Katniss tried the key one more time, but it only elicited the same empty clicking sound from her car. Sighing, she leaned forward and stared out at the moonlit sky through the cracked windshield. It was getting late, and even if she left on foot right now, she wouldn't get back from her swim until almost midnight.

That wouldn't be a huge problem, but her curfew was eleven. Starting off the summer being grounded on top of having a dead car was the last thing she wanted. Her swim would have to wait for another night.

She got out of the car. When she tried to slam the door shut in frustration, it only groaned, and a chunk of rust fell off the bottom.

"This is by far the worst three hundred dollars I ever spent," Katniss muttered.

"Car trouble?" Marvel asked from behind her, startling her so much she nearly screamed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

She turned around to face him. "No, it's okay," She said, waving it off. "I didn't hear you come out."

Marvel had lived next door to them for the past ten years, and there was nothing scary about him. As he got older, he'd tried to smooth out his unruly dark hair, but a lock near the front always stood up, a cowlick he could never tame. It made him look younger than eighteen , and when he smiled, he look younger still.

There was something innocent about him, and that was probably why Prim had never thought of him as anything more than a friend. Even Katniss had dismissed him as untrustworthy until recently. She'd seen the subtle changes in him, youthfulness giving way to broad shoulders and strong arms.

It was that new thing, the new manliness he was beginning to grow into, that made her stomach flutter when Marvel smiled at her. She still wasn't used to feeling that was around him, so she pushed it down and tried to ignore it.

"Stupid piece of junk won't run." Katniss gestured to the rusty compact and stepped over to where Marvel stood on his lawn. "I've only had it for three months, and it's dead already."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Marvel said. "Do you need help?"

"You know something about cars?" Katniss raised an eyebrow. She had seen him spend plenty of time playing video games or with his nose stuck in a book, but she'd never once seen him under the hood of a car.

Marvel smiled sheepishly and lowered his eyes. He had been blessed with tan skin, which made it easier for him to hide his embarrassment, but Katniss knew him well enough to understand that he blushed at almost anything.

"No," He admitted with a small laugh and motioned back to the driveway where his blue Mercury Cougar sat. "But I do have a car of my own."

He pulled the keys out of his pocket and swung them around his finger. For a moment he managed to look slick before the keys flew off his hand and hit him in the chin. Katniss stifled a laugh as he scrambled to pick them up.

"You okay?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine." He rubbed his chin and shrugged it off. "So, do you want a ride?"

"Are you sure? It's pretty late. I don't want to bother you."

"Nah, it's no bother." He stepped back toward his car, waiting for Katniss to follow. "Where are you headed?"

"Just to the bay."

"I should've known." He grinned. "Your nightly swim?"

"It's not nightly," Katniss said, though he wasn't too far off base.

"Come on." Marvel walked over to the Cougar and opened his door. "Hop in."

"All right, if you insist."

Katniss didn't like imposing on people, but she didn't what to pass up a chance at swimming. A car ride alone with Marvel wouldn't hurt, either. Usually she only got to spend time with him when he was hanging out with her sister.

"So what is it about these swims that you find so entrancing?" Marvel asked after she'd gotten in the car.

"I don't think I'd ever describe them as entrancing." She buckled her seat belt, then leaned back. "I don't know what it is exactly. There's just… nothing else like it."

"What do you mean? Marvel asked. He'd started the car but stayed parked in the driveway, watching her as she tried to explain.

"During the day there are so many people at the bay, especially during the summer, but a night… it's just you and the water and the stars. And it's dark, so it all feels like one thing, and you're part of it all." She furrowed her brow, but her smile was wistful. "I guess it is kind of entrancing," She admitted. She shook her head, clearing it of the thought. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just a freak who likes swimming at night."

That was when Katniss realized Marvel was staring at her, and she glanced over at him. He had a strange expression on his face, almost like he was dumbfounded.

"What?" Katniss asked, beginning to feel embarrassed at the way he look at her. She fidgeted with her hair, tucking it behind her ears, and shifted in her seat.

"Nothing. Sorry." Marvel shook his head and put the car in drive. "You probably want to get out to the water."

"I'm not in a huge rush or anything," Katniss said, but that was sort of a lie. She wanted to get as much as time in the water as she could before her curfew.

"Are you still training?" Marvel asked. "Or did you stop for summer vacation?"

"Nope I still train." She rolled down the car window, letting the salty air blow in. "I swim everyday at the pool with the coach. He says my times are getting really good."

"At the pool you swim all day, and then you want to sneak out and swim all night?" Marvel smirked. "How does that work?"

"it's different." She tucked her arm out the open window, holding it straight as if it were the wing to a plane." Swimming at the poll, it's all laps and time. It's work. Out in the bay, it's just floating and splashing around."

"But don't you ever get sick of being wet?" Marvel asked.

"Nope. That's like asking you, Don't you ever get sick of breathing air?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. Sometimes I think, Wouldn't it be grand if I didn't need to breathe?"

"Why?" Katniss laughed. "Why would that ever be grand?"

"I don't know." He looked self-conscious for a minute, his smile twisting nervously. "I guess I mostly thought it when I was in gym class and they'd make me run or something. I was always so out of breath."

Marvel glanced over at her, as if checking to see if she thought he was a complete loser for that admission. But she only smiled at him in response.

"You should have spent more time swimming with me," Katniss said. "Then you wouldn't have been so out of shape."

"I know, but I'm a geek." He sighed. "At least I'm done with all that gym stuff now that I've graduated."

"Soon you'll be so busy at college, you won't even remember the horrors of high school," Katniss said, her tone turning curiously despondent.

"Yeah, I guess." Marvel furrowed his brow.

Katniss leaned closer to the window, hanging her elbow down the side and resting her chin on her hand as she stared out at the houses and trees passing by. In their neighborhood, the houses were all cheap and run-down, but as soon as they passed Capri Lane, everything was clean and modern.

Since it was tourist season, all the buildings and trees were lit up brightly. Music from the bars and sounds of people talking and laughing wafted through the air.

"Are you excited to get away from all this?" Katniss asked with a wry smile and pointed to a drunken couple arguing on the boulevard.

"There is some stuff I'll be glad to get away from," He admitted, but when he looked over at her, His expression softened. "But there will diffidently be some things that I miss."

The beach was mostly deserted, other than a few teenagers having a bonfire, and Katniss directed Marvel to drive a little farther. The soft sand gave way to more jagged rocks lining the shore, and the paved parking lots were replaced by a forest of bald cypress trees. He parked on a dirt road as close to the water as he could get.

This far away from the tourist attractions, there was no people or trails leading to the water. When Marvel cut the lights on the Cougar, they were submerged into darkness. The only light came from the moon above them, and from some light pollution cast off by the own.

"Is this really where you swim?" Marvel asked.

"Yeah. It's the best place to do it." She shrugged and opened the door.

"But it's all rocky." Marvel got out of the car and scanned the mossy stones that covered the ground. "I seems dangerous."

"That's the point," Katniss grinned. "Nobody else would swim here."

As soon as he got out of the car, she slipped off her sundress, revealing the bathing suit she wore underneath. Her dark hair had been in a pony tail, but she pulled it down and shoot it loose. She kicked off her flip-flops and tossed them in the car, along with her dress. Marvel stood next to the car, shoving his hands deep in his pockets, and tried not to look at her. He knew she was wearing a bathing suit, one he'd seen her in a hundred times before. Katniss practically lived in swimwear. But alone with her like this, he felt acutely aware of how she looked in a bikini.

Of the two Everdeen sisters, Katniss was diffidently the prettier. She had a lithe swimmers body, petite and slender, but curved in all the right places. Her skin was bronze from the sun, and her dark hair had golden highlights running through it from all the chlorine and sunlight. Her eyes were grey, which he could diffidently see through the dim light, but they sparkled when she smiled at him.

"Aren't you going swimming?" Katniss asked.

"Uh, no." He shook his head and deliberately stared off at the bay to avoid looking at her. "I'm good. I'll wait in the car until you're done."

"No, you drove me all the way down here. You can't just wait in the car. You have to come swimming with me."

"Nah, I think I'm okay." He scratched his arm and lowered his eyes. "You go haven fun."

"Marvel, come on." Katniss pretended to pout. "I bet you've never even gone for a swim in he moonlight. And you're leaving for college at the end of summer. You have to do this at least once, or you haven't really lived."

"I don't have any swim trunks," Marvel said but his resistance was already waning.

"Just wear your boxers."

He thought about protesting further, but Katniss had a point. She was always doing stuff like this, but he's spent most of his high school career in his bedroom.

Besides, swimming would be better than waiting. And when he thought about it, it was much less creepy joining her swimming than watching her from the shore..

"Fine, but I better not cut my feet on any of the rocks," Marvel said as he slipped off his shoes.

"I promise to keep you safe and sound." He crossed her hand over her heart to prove it.

"I'll hold you to that." He pulled his shirt up over his head, and it was exactly as Katniss had imagined. His gangly frame had filled out with toned muscles that she didn't completely understand, since he was a self-professed geek.

When he started to undo his pants, Katniss turned away to be polite. Even though she would see him in his boxers in a few seconds, it felt strange watching him take off his jeans. As if it were dirty.

"So how do we get down to the water?" Marvel asked.

"Very carefully."

She went first, stepping delicately onto the rocks, and he knew he wouldn't stand a chance of coping her grace. She moved like a ballerina, stepping onto the balls of her feet from one smooth rock to the next until she reached the water.

"There are a few sharp stones when you step in the water," Katniss warned him.

"Thanks for the heads up." He mumbled and moved with as much caution as he could. Following her path, which she'd made look so easy, proved to be rather treacherous, and he stumbled several times.

"Don't rush it! You'll be fine if you go slow."

"I'm trying."

To his own surprise, he managed to make it to the water without slicing open his foot. Katniss smiled proudly at him as she waded out deeper into the bay.

"Aren't you scared?" Marvel asked.

"Of what?" She'd gone far enough into the water to lean back and swim, kicking her legs out in front of her.

"I don't know. Sea monsters or something. The water is so dark. You can't see anything." Marvel was now a little over waist-deep, and truthfully, he didn't want to go any farther.

"There's no sea monsters." Katniss laughed and splashed water at him. To encourage him to have fun, she decided to challenge him. "I'll race you to the rock over there."

"What rock?"

"That one." She pointed to a giant gray spike of a rock that stuck out of the water a few yards from where they swam.

"You'll beat me to it," He said.

"I'll give you a head start." Katniss offered.

"How much?"

"Um… five seconds."

"Five seconds?" Marvel seemed to weigh this. "I guess maybe I could -" Instead of finishing his thought, he dove into the water, swimming fast.

"I'm already giving you a head start!" Katniss called after him, laughing. "You didn't need to cheat!"

Marvel swam as furiously as he could, but it wasn't long before Katniss was flying past him. She was unstoppable in the water, and he'd honestly never seen anything faster than her. In the past, he'd gone with Prim to swim meets at the school, and there had rarely been one where Katniss didn't win.

"I won!" Katniss declared when she reached the rock.

"As if there was any doubt." Marvel swam up next to her and hung onto the rock to support himself. His breath was still short, and he wiped the salty water from his eyes. "That was hardly a fair fight."

"Sorry." She smiled. Katniss wasn't anywhere near as winded as Marvel was, but she leaned onto the rock next to him.

"For some reason, I don't really think you mean that." Marvel said in mock defense.

His hand slipped off the rock, and when he reached out to steady himself again, he accidentally put his hand over Katniss's. His first instinct was to pull it back in some kind of hasty embarrassment, but the second before he did, he changed his mind.

Marvel let his hand linger over hers, both of them cool and wet. Her smile had changed, turning into something fonder, and for a moment neither of them said anything. They hung on to the rock like that for a moment longer, the only sound the water lapping around them.

Katniss would've been content to sit with Marvel like that, but light exploded in the cove behind him, distracting her. The small cove was at the mouth of the bay, just before it met the ocean, about a quarter mile from where Katniss and Marvel floated.

Marvel followed her gaze. A moment later, laughter sounded over the water and he pulled his hand away from hers.

A fire flared inside the cove, the light flickering across the three dancing figures that fanned it. From this far away, it was difficult to get a clear view of what they were doing, but it was obvious who they were by the way they moved. Everyone in town knew of them, even if nobody really seemed to know them personally.

"It's those girls," Marvel said - softly, as if the girls would overhear him from the cove.

The three girls were dancing with elegance and grace. Even their shadows, looming on the rock walls around them, seemed sensual in their movements.

"What are they doing out there?" Marvel asked.

"I don't know." Katniss shrugged, continuing to stare at them, unabashed. "They've been coming out here more and more. They seem to like hanging out in that cove."

"Huh," Marvel said. She looked back at him and saw his brow furrow in thought.

"I don't even know what they're doing in town."

"Me neither." He looked over his shoulder to watch them again. "Somebody told me they were Canadian movie stars."

"Maybe. But they don't have accents."

"You've heard them talk?" Marvel asked, sounding impressed.

"Yeah, I've seen them at Pearl's Diner across from the library. They always order milk shakes."

"Didn't there used to be four of them?"

"Yeah, I think so." Katniss squinted, trying to be sure she was counting right. "Last time I saw them out here, there were four. But now there's only three."

"I wonder where the other one went."

Katniss and Marvel were too far away to understand them clearly, but they were talking and laughing, their voices floating over the bay. One of the girls began singing - her voice as clear as crystal, and so sweet it almost hurt to hear. The melody pulled at Katniss's heart.

Marvel's jaw dropped, and he gaped at them. He moved away from the rock, floating slowly toward them, but Katniss barely even noticed. Her focus was on the girls. Or, more accurately, on the one girl that wasn't singing.

Rue. Katniss was sure of it, just by the way Rue moved away from the two girls. Her long black hair hung down behind her, and the wind blew it back. She walked with startling grace and purpose, her eyes stared straight ahead.

From this distance in the dark, Rue shouldn't have noticed her, But Katniss could feel her eyes boring straight through her, sending chills down her spine.

"Marvel," Katniss said in a voice that barely sounded like her own. "I think we should go."

"What?" Marvel replied dazedly, and that was when Katniss realized how far he had swum away from her.

"Marvel, come on. I think we're bothering them. We should go."

"Go?" He turned back to her, sounding confused by the idea.

"Marvel!" Katniss said, nearly shouting now, but at least that seemed to get through to him. "We need to get back. It's late."

"Oh, right." He shook his head, clearing it, and then swam back toward the shore. When Katniss was convinced he was back to normal, she followed him.

Rue, Clove, Glimmer, and Annie had been in town since the weather started warming up, and people assumed they were the first tourists of the season. But nobody really knew exactly who they were or what they were doing here.

All Katniss knew was that she hated it when they came out here. It disrupted her night swims. She didn't feel comfortable being in the water, not when they were out in the cove, dancing and singing and doing whatever it was they did.


	3. Capri

Chapter 2

Capri

The slamming of a car door startled her, and Prim sat up, setting aside her e-reader. She hopped off her bed and pushed back the curtain in time to see Katniss saying good night to Marvel before coming into the house.

According to the alarm clock on her bedside table, it was only ten-thirty. She really didn't have anything to but Katniss on, but Prim still didn't like it.

She sat down on her bed and waited for Katniss to come upstairs. It would take a few minutes, since their father, Brian, was downstairs watching TV. He usually waited up for Katniss, not that she seemed to care. She still went out, even when Brian had to be up at five A.M. for work.

That drove Prim nuts, but she'd long ago given up that fight. Her father had set Katniss's curfew, and if it really bothered him to wait up, he could make it earlier. Or at least that was what he said.

Brain and Katniss talked for a couple minutes, with Prim upstairs listening to their muffled conversation. Then she heard footsteps on the stairs, and before Katniss could make it to her own room, Prim opened her bedroom door and caught her.

"Katniss," Prim whispered.

Katniss stood across the hall from her, her back to Prim and her hand on the bedroom door. Her sundress stuck to her damp skin, and Prim could see the outline of the bikini through the fabric.

With heavy reluctance, Katniss turned to face her older sister. "You know, you don't have to wait up for me. Dad does that."

"I wasn't waiting for you," Prim lied. "I just happened to be up reading."

"Yeah, okay." Katniss rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "So, get on with it. Tell me what I did wrong."

"You didn't do anything wrong." Prim said, her tone softening.

It wasn't like she enjoyed yelling at Katniss all the time. She really didn't. Katniss just had the awful habit of doing stupid things.

"I know." Katniss replied.

"I was only…" Prim ran her fingers over the trim of her bedroom door and avoided looking at Katniss incase she had a judgmental gleam in her eye. "What were you doing with Marvel?"

"My car wouldn't start, so he took me for a swim at the bay."

"Why did he take you?"

Katniss shrugged. "I don't know. Because he's nice."

"Katniss." Prim groaned.

"What?" Katniss asked. "I didn't do anything."

Prim sighed. "He's too old for you. I know -"

"Prim! Yuck!" Katniss's cheeks reddened, and she lowered her eyes. "Marvel is like… a brother or something. Don't be gross. And he's your best friend."

"Don't." Prim shook her head. "I've watched the dance you two have been playing the last few months, and I wouldn't care, except he going away to college soon. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not going to get hurt. Nothing is happening." Katniss insisted. "You know, I thought you would be happy. You're always telling me not to go on those night swims alone, and I brought someone with me."

"Marvel?" Prim raised an eyebrow, and even Katniss had to admit that Marvel probably wouldn't be a very effective body-guard. "And those night swims aren't safe. You shouldn't be going on them at all."

"I'm fine! Nothing happened!"

"Nothing happened yet," Prim countered. "But three people have gone missing in the last two months, Katniss. You have to be careful."

"I am careful!" Katniss balled her hands into fists at her sides. "And it doesn't matter what you say anyway. Dad says I can go as long as I'm home by eleven, and I am."

"Well, dad shouldn't be letting you go."

"Is there a problem, girls?" Brian called from the bottom of the stairs.

"No," Prim muttered.

"I'm going to take a shower and go to bed, if that's okay with Prim." Katniss said.

"I don't care what you do." Prim held up her hands and shrugged.

"Thank you." Katniss turned on her heel and slammed the bedroom door behind her.

Prim leaned on her doorframe as her father climbed the stairs. He was a tall man with big strong hands, worn from years of working at the dock. Though in his forties, Brian was rather fit, and other than a few grey streaks in his hair, he didn't look his age.

Stopping in front of Prim's room, her father crossed his arms and looked down at her. "What was that about?"

"I don't know." She shrugged and stared down at her toes, noticing the bright blue nail polish had begun to chip.

"You've got to stop telling her what to do," Brian said quietly.

"I'm not!"

"She's going to make mistakes, just like you do, but she'll be okay, just like you are."

"Why am I the bad guy?" Prim finally lifted her eyes to look up at her father. "Marvel is too old for her, and it's dangerous out there. I'm not being unreasonable."

"But you're not her parent," Brian said. "I AM. You have your own life to live. You should be worrying about college this fall. Let me worry about Katniss, okay? I can take care of her."

"I know." She sighed.

"Do you?" Brian asked honestly, looking her in the eyes. "I know I've let you take on too much since your mom…" He trailed off, letting it hang in the air. "But that doesn't mean we won't be okay without you."

"I know. I'm sorry, dad." She forced a smile. "I just worry."

"Well, try not to, and get some sleep tonight, okay?"

"Okay." She nodded.

He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "Night, sweetie."

"Night, dad."

Prim went back into her room, shutting the door behind her. Her father was right, and she knew it, but that didn't change the way she felt. For good or for bad, Katniss had been Prim's responsibility for the past nine years. Or, a the very least, Prim had felt responsible.

She sat down on her bed with a heavy sigh. Leaving them would be impossible.

She should be excited about finally getting out on her own, especially considering how hard she had worked for it. Even with working part-time at the library and volunteering at the animal shelter, Prim had managed to get a 4.0 all through high school.

The scholarship she had been awarded opened doors for her that her father's budget couldn't.. Every college she'd applied to had been eager to have her. She could've gone anywhere, but she's chosen a state school only forty minutes away from Capri.

Peering out through the curtains, Prim could see the light from Marvel's bedroom. She grabbed her phone from her bedside table, meaning to text him, but changed her mind. He'd been her friend for years, and despite the fact that she'd never harbored any romantic feelings for him, his growing flirtation with her younger sister weirded Prim out a bit.

Thepipes groaned as Katniss turned on the hot water in the bathroom across the hall. Prim grabbed the blue nail polish so she could touch up her toenails and listened to Katniss sing in the shower, her voice soft like a lullaby.

Prim gave up after one foot and curled up in the bed. Within moments of her head hitting the pillow, she was out.

By the time Prim woke up in the morning, her dad was already gone for work, and Katniss was rushing around the kitchen. It never stopped being strange to Prim that, even waking up at seven in the morning, she was the late sleeper in the family.

"I made some hard-boiled eggs this morning," Katniss said through a mouthful of food. Based on the yellow crumbles coming out of her mouth, it looked like Katniss had just finished off an egg. "I cooked up the whole dozen, so you can have some."

"Thanks." Prim yawned as she sat down at the kitchen table.

Katniss stood next to the open dishwasher, quickly downing a glass of orange juice. When she finished she threw the glass in the dishwasher, next to her dirty plate. She was already dressed in worn jeans and a T-shirt, and her hair had been pulled up into a ponytail.

"I got to get to swim practice." Katniss said as she hurried by.

"Why so early?" Prim leaned back in her chair so she could watch through the doorway as Katniss slipped on her shoes. "I thought practice didn't start until eight."

"It doesn't. But my car won't start, so I'm biking it there."

"I can give you a ride," Prim offered.

"Nah, I'm fine." Katniss grabbed her gym bag and sifted through it, making sure she had everything she needed. She pulled out her iPod and shoved it in the pocket of her jeans.

"You're not suppose to listen to that when you ride your bike," Prim reminded her. "You can't hear oncoming traffic."

"I'll be fine." Katniss ignored her and tossed the ear buds around her neck.

"It's suppose to rain today." Prim said.

Katniss grabbed a gray sweatshirt from where it hung on the coat rack, and then she held it up for Prim to see. "Got my hoodie." Without waiting for Prim to say any more, Katniss turned around and opened the front door. "See you later!"

"Have a good day!" Prim called after her, but the door had already slammed shut behind Katniss.

Prim sat in the kitchen for a few minutes, allowing herself to wake up before the silence annoyed her into action. She put on the stereo so the house felt less empty. Her father always kept the radio set on the classic rock station, and she spent a lot of mornings with Bruce Springsteen.

When she opened the fridge to get some breakfast, she saw the crumpled brown paper bag that contained her fathers lunch. He's forgotten it. Again. On her won lunch break, she'd have to leave early to take it down to the docks for him.

After she finished eating breakfast, Prim hurried about her morning routine. She cleaned out the fridge, throwing away old leftovers, before starting the dishwasher and taking out the garbage. It was Thursday, and on the brightly colored chore calendar she'd made said LAUNDRY and BATHROOM in big block letters.

Since laundry took longer, Prim started that first. In the process, she discovered that Katniss must've borrowed one of her tops and spilled chili dog on it. She would have to remember to have a talk with her about that later.

The bathroom was always a pain to clean. The shower drain was always filled with a disproportionate amount of Katniss's golden brown hair. Since Prim's hair was a lighter, coarser, and longer, she'd expect to see more of it, but it was always Katniss's hair clogging up the pipes.

Prim finished her chores, then got herself cleaned up and ready for work. The rain she'd predicted earlier that morning was coming down, a heavy garden shower, and she had to run out to her car to keep from getting drenched.

Since it was raining, the library where Prim worked was a little busier than normal. Her coworker Cashmere called dibs on putting away books and rearranging shelves, leaving Prim to help the library patrons to check out.

They had a automated system, so people could check out books without involving the clerks or the librarian, but some people never got the hang of it. Several other people had questions about late fees or reserving books, and a nice old lady needed help finding "That one book with the fish, or maybe a what, and the girl who falls in love."

Near lunchtime the rain had let up, and so had what little rush the library had seem. Cashmere had deliberately been in the back aisles rearranging books, but she came out of hiding and sat in the chair next to Prim at the front desk.

Even though cashmere was seven years older than Prim and technically her boss, Prim was the more responsible of the two. Cashmere loved books. That was why she'd gotten into the field. But she would have been happy to spend the rest of her life without talking to another person. Her jeans had a hole in the knee, and her T-shirt read, I LISTEN TO BANDS THAT DON'T EVEN EXIST YET.

"Well, I'm glad that's over." Cashmere said, snapping at the bands on a rubber band ball.

"If people didn't come here, you would be out of a job." Prim pointed out.

"I know." She shrugged and brushed her straight bangs out of her eyes. "Sometimes I think I'm like that guy on The Twilight Zone."

"What guy?" Prim asked.

"That guy. Burgess Meredith, I think." Cashmere leaned backing her chair, bouncing the rubber-band ball between her hands. "All he wanted to do was read books, and then he finally gets what he wants, and all of the people die in this nuclear holocaust."

"He wanted everyone to be blown up?" Prim asked, looking at her friend seriously. "You want everyone to be blown up?"

"No, he didn't, and neither do I." Cashmere shook her head. "He just wanted to be left alone to read, and then he is. That's where the irony comes in. He breaks his glasses, and he can't read, and he's all upset. So that's why I eat carrots so much."

"What?" Prim asked.

"So I have good vision," Cashmere said, like it should be super obvious. "In the event of bombs being dropped, I won't need to worry about my glasses, and I can survive the fallout or zombie apocalypse or what have you."

"Wow. It seems like you really thought that through."

"I have," Cashmere admitted. "And everyone should. It's important stuff."

"Clearly." Prim pushed her chair back from the desk. "Hey, since it's slow, do you mind if I go on my lunch break early? I need to run my dad's lunch down to him."

Cashmere shrugged. "Yeah, sure. But he's gonna have to learn to remember that on his own soon."

"I know." Prim sighed. "Thanks."

She got up and went back to the small office behind the front desk to retrieve the sack lunch from the mini-fridge. The office was for the librarian, but she was on her honeymoon for the next month, traveling all around the world. That left Cashmere in charge, so it really meant Prim was in charge.

"There they go again." Cashmere said.

"There who go?" Prim asked as she came back out to find Cashmere staring out the large front window.

"Them." Cashmere nodded at the window.

Since the rain had stopped, the streets were once again flooded with tourists, But Prim saw exactly who Cashmere was talking about.

Rue, Clove, and Glimmer strutted down the sidewalk. Rue led the way, her long dark legs seeming to stretch for a mile below the hem of her short skirt, and her black hair falling down her back like silk. Glimmer and Clove followed right behind her. Glimmer was blonde, her hair literally the color of gold, and Clove had fiery red curls.

Prim had always thought her sister, Katniss, was the most beautiful girl in Capri. But ever since Rue and her friends had come to town, that wasn't even close to being true.

Rue winked at Haymitch Abernathy as she walked past him, and he had to grab a bench to steady himself. He was an older man who rarely left the tiny island he lived on just off Anthemusa Bay. Prim knew him because he use to work with his father before he retired, and Haymitch had always been fond of Prim and Katniss, giving them candy whenever they visited the docks. He even used to watch Prim and Katniss when they were younger and their dad was busy.

"Oh, that's not nice at all." Cashmere frowned as she watched Haymitch hang onto the bench. "They nearly gave him a heart attack."

Prim was about to run out across the street to help him when he finally seemed to collect himself. Straightening up, Haymitch walked away, presumably to the bait-and-tackle shop.

"Didn't there use to be four of them?" Cashmere asked, her attention back on the three girls.

"I think so."

Privately, Prim felt a small sense of relief at knowing there was one fewer. She'd never thought herself as prejudiced against anyone, even pretty girls, yet she couldn't help feeling that this town and everyone in it would be better if Rue and her friends left.

"I wonder what they're doing here," Cashmere said as the three girls walked into Pearl's Diner across from the library.

"Same thing everyone else is doing here." Prim tried to sound unfazed by their presence. "It's summer vacation."

"But they're like movie stars or something." Cashmere turned back to face Prim now that Rue, Glimmer, and Clove had disappeared inside the diner.

"Even movie stars need at vacation." Prim grabbed her purse from underneath the desk. "I'm running out to the docks to see my dad. I'll be back in a little bit."

Prim hurried out to her old Mercury Sable, hoping to get to and from the docks without getting rained on. She'd just hopped in the car and started it when she glanced up. Rue, Glimmer, and Clove were sitting in a booth by the window at Pearl's.

The other two girls were sipping their drinks, behaving like normal customers, but Rue stared out the glass, her dark eyes locked on Prim. Her full lips turned up in a smile. A guy might have found that seductive, but Prim found it strangely menacing.

She put the car in drive and sped off so quickly she nearly clipped another driver, and that was very unlike her. As she drove down the dock, slowing her racing heart, Prim once again thought about how much better it would be if Rue would just leave.


	4. Pursued

Chapter 3

Pursued

Prim had been hoping to miss him, but lately it seemed that none of her trips to the dock would be complete without running into Rory. He lived on a boat that kept docked there, even though it was a small cabin cruiser, not really meant for habitation of longer than a day or two.

Brain worked at the north end of the bay, unloading barges that cam in. Because that side of Anthemusa Bay was used for working ships, it was less appealing to tourists, and most of the privately owned boats were moored down closer to the beach. Of course, there were a few locals who still kept boats at the working end of the dock, and Rory happened to be one of them.

The first time Prim had met him, she'd been on her way to see Brian at the dock. Apparently, Rory had woken up and decided to pee over the edge of the boat. She just happened to look up at precisely the wrong time and got a full view of his manly parts.

Prim had screamed, and Rory immediately pulled up his pants. That was when he had jumped down from the boat to introduce himself and apologize profusely. If he hadn't been laughing the entire time, she might have actually accepted his apology.

Today, as Prim walked by his boat - aptly named The Dirty Gull - Rory was standing shirtless on the deck, even though the air is chilled from the wind blowing across the bay.

He had his back to her, so she could see the tattoo that stretched across it. The roots start just above his pants, the trunk grew upward, over his spine, then twisted to the side. Thick black branches extended out, covering his shoulder and going down his right arm.

She held her hand to the side of her face, saving herself from looking at him. It wasn't until Rory shouted, "Watch out!" that she looked up, and a sopping-wet something smacked her in the face.

It knocked her off balance, and Prim fell back onto the dock, landing unceremoniously on her butt. Rory jumped over the railing on the bow and landed on the dock. Prim immediately ripped the something from her face, still unsure of what it was exactly, except that it was wet and came from Rory, so she could only assume that it was something horrendous.

"Sorry about that," Rory said, but he was laughing as he picked up the item from where she'd thrown it aside. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Prim snapped. He held out his hand to help her up, but she swatted it away and got to her feet. "No thanks to you."

"I really am sorry," Rory repeated. He kept smiling at her, but he managed to look sheepish about it, so Prim decided to hate him a little less. But only a little.

"What was that?" Prim asked, wiping her face with the sleeve of her shirt.

"Just a T-Shirt." He un-balled it and held it out to reveal an ordinary Hanes shirt. "A clean shirt. I was hanging my laundry up to dry, and the wind got a hold of it and blew it out to you."

"You're hanging your clothes up now?" Prim gestured at the overcast sky. "That's completely idiotic."

"Well, I was running out of clean clothes." Rory shrugged and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. Prim could never tell if it was dirty blonde or just dirty. "I know some ladies wouldn't mind if I ran around without clothes, but -"

"Yeah right," Prim made a disgusted sound in her throat, which only made Rory laugh again.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said. "I really am. I know you don't believe me, but you can let me make it up to you."

"You can make it up by not traumatizing me every time I walk by," Prim suggested.

"Traumatize?" Rory smirked and raised an eyebrow. "It was just a T-shirt, Prim."

"Yeah, it was just a T-shirt this time." Prim glared at him. "You're not even suppose to be living on these boats. Why don't you get a real place, and this won't be a problem?"

"Easier said than done." He sighed and looked away from her then, staring out at the bay. "You're right, though, I'll be more careful."

"That's all I'm asking," She said and started walking away.

"Prim," Rory said. Against her better judgment, she stopped and looked back to him. "Why don't you let me buy you a coffee sometime?"

"No, thanks," Prim replied quickly, maybe too quickly judging by the wounded expression that flashed across his face. But he erased it just as fast and smiled at her.

"All right." He nodded. "See you later."

Prim turned away from him without saying anything more, leaving him standing alone on the dock. She was actually taken aback by his invitation, but she wasn't tempted. Not even slightly.

Sure, Rory was kinda cute, in a grungy rock star sort of way, but he was older than her by a couple of years, and he didn't have his life together at all.

Besides that, she'd made a pact with herself that she wouldn't date until college. She was too focused on getting her life in order, and she didn't have anytime to waste on guys. That had been her plan all along, but she really recommitted to it after her dip into the dating world last fall.

Marvel had set her up with his friend, Cato Benfield, insisting they would be a good match. Even though they went to the same school, Prim had never had any classes with Cato and didn't really know him, but after much prodding from Marvel, she finally caved.

The only time she'd really see Cato around was when he was at Marvel's house for a Halo party or some other video gaming event. Prim didn't usually take part in those activities, so her interaction with Cato had been minimal before they went on a date.

The date itself went well enough that she agreed to go with Cato for a few more. He was nice and funny, albeit in an overly geeky manner, but in his own way, he was sort of cute. It was when they'd elevated their relationship to kissing that it had went sour.

Prim had only kissed one other boy, at a slumber party in the eight grade on a dare, but even with her limited experience, she was certain that kissing wasn't suppose to go the way it went with Cato.

It was slobbery and far too eager, like he was attempting to devour her face. Then his hands suddenly went crazy, and at first she wasn't sure if he was trying to feel her up or having a seizure. When she was certain it was the former, she decided to stop seeing him.

He was a nice enough guy, but there wasn't any physical chemistry between them. To break it off, Prim had told him that she needed to focus on her schoolwork and her family, so she didn't have time for a relationship. Still, things ended up being awkward between them the next time she ran into him.

That only solidified her views on romance. She didn't have the time or the need for all that drama.

Katniss leaned against the edge of the pool and took off her goggles. Coach Trinket stood over her, and she could already tell by her expression that she'd beat her time.

"I did it, right?" Katniss asked, smiling up at her.

"You did it." Coach said.

"I knew it!" She grabbed the edge of the pool and pulled herself up and out of the water. "I could feel it."

"You did great," Coach nodded. "Now just imagine how great you'd do if you didn't waste your energy on those nightly swims."

Katniss groaned and took off her swim cap, letting her hair fall free. She looked around the empty pool. Nobody else on the swim team practiced during the summer, but then again, nobody trained as hard as she did.

They rarely spoke of it, not in real terms, but both Katniss and the coach had their eyes on the Olympics. The games were years away, but she was determined to be in top form by the time they came around. Coach Trinket took her to every meet she could, and Katniss won almost every time.

"It's not a waste of energy." Katniss stared down at the water that dripped around her feet. "It's something fun I do. I need to relax."

"You do," Coach agreed. She folded her arms across her chest, holding the clipboard to her. "you need to have fun and kick back and be a kid. But you don't need to be swimming at night."

"You wouldn't even know that I was swimming if Prim didn't narc on me," Katniss muttered.

"Your sister is worried about you," Coach said gently. "And I am, too. It's not about training. The bay is dangerous at night. Another kid went missing just the other week."

"I know." Katniss sighed.

She'd already heard about it dozens of times from Prim. A seventeen-year-old boy had been staying at a beach house with his parents. He went out to meet some friends for a bonfire, and he never came back.

That story in itself didn't sound that bad, but Prim was quick to remind Katniss of the two other boys who had gone missing in the last couple months. They left one night, and simply didn't come home.

It was usually after Prim told these stories that she'd run into Brian and start demanding that he keep Katniss home. Brian didn't, though. Even after everything that had happened with their mom - or maybe because of it - he felt it was more important that the girls have a chance to live their lives.

"You've just got to be careful," Coach told her. "It's not worth throwing this away for some stupid mistake."

"I know," Katniss said, this time with more conviction. After all the hard work and sacrifice, she wasn't about to let any of this slip away from her.

"Okay," Coach said. "But Katniss, that really was a great time today. You should be proud."

"Thanks. I'll do even better tomorrow."

"Don't push yourself too hard," Coach said, but she smiled at her.

"All right." She smiled back and pointed to the locker room behind her. "I'm going to hit the showers now."

"Try to do something fun tonight that doesn't involve water, okay? Expand your horizons beyond the aquatic. It'll be good for you."

"Yes, sir." Katniss saluted her as she walked backward to the lockers, and she laughed.

She showered quickly, mostly just rinsing the chlorine from her hair. All the time in the water should've left her with crazy dry skin, but she used baby oil every time she dried off. It was the only thing that prevented her from turning into an alligator.

After she'd gotten dressed, she went out to unlock her bike. The rain had come back, pouring down twice as hard as it had earlier. Katniss flipped the hood up over her head, regretting her decision to ride the bike to practice, when a horn honked behind her.

"Do you need a lift?" Prim asked, rolling down the car window to yell out at her sister.

"What about my bike?" Katniss asked.

"You can get it tomorrow."

Katniss thought about it for a second before running over and hopping in her sister's car. She tossed her gym bag in the back seat and buckled up.

"I was on my way home from work, and I thought I'd swing by and see if you needed a ride," Prim said as she pulled away from the gymnasium. Practice lasted only a couple hours, but Katniss could usually grab lunch and then hit the weight room. She wasn't buff, but she needed her body in peak physical condition.

"Thanks." Katniss turned the vents so the heat would blow directly on her. "The rain gets pretty cold."

"How was practice today?"

"Good." Katniss shrugged. "I beat my best time."

"Really?" Prim sounded genuinely excited and smiled over at her. "That's amazing! Congratulations!"

"Thank you." She leaned back in the seat. "Do you know what's going on tonight?"

"With what?" Prim asked. "Dad's making a pizza for supper, and I was thinking of going over to Cashmere's to watched this documentary called Hot Coffee. What did you have planned?"

"I don't know. Nothing. I think I might stay in tonight."

"You mean like actually stay in?" Prim asked. "No midnight swims?"

"Nope."

"Oh." Prim paused, surprised. "That'll be nice. Dad will like that."

"I guess."

"I can stay home if you want," Prim offered. "I could rent movies to watch together."

"Nah, that's okay." Katniss stared out the car window as Prim drove them home. "I was thinking after supper I might see if Marvel wanted to come over and play Red Dead Redemption."

"Oh." Prim exhaled deeply, but she didn't say anything.

She wasn't thrilled about their friendship, but she'd already said her piece on it. Besides that, it was better if Katniss was at home playing video games with the boy next door than running around all over town in the middle of the night.

"There are only three," Katniss said, pulling Prim from her thoughts.

"What?" Prim looked over to see Rue, Clove, and Glimmer walking down the street.

It was pouring rain, but they didn't have any jackets on and didn't seem to mind. If it had been anybody else, she would've offered them a ride, but she purposely sped up as she drove past them.

"There's only three/" Katniss turned to her sister. "What happened to the fourth one?"

"I don't know." Prim shook her head. "Maybe she's sick."

"Nah, I don't think so." Katniss rested her head on the seat and leaned back. "What was her name?"

"Annie, I think," Prim said. She's heard their names from Cashmere, who'd heard them from Pearl, who usually was pretty accurate when it came to town gossip. "But her real name is Arista."

"Arista," Katniss repeated. "What a stupid name."

"I'm sure plenty of people think our names are stupid," Prim pointed out. "It's not nice to make fun of something people can't control."

"I'm not making fun of her. I'm just saying." Katniss turned around to watch the diminishing figures of the three girls. "Do you think they killed her?"

"Don't say things like that," Prim said, although the idea had actually crossed her mind. "That's how rumors get started."

"I'm not spreading a rumor." Katniss rolled her eyes. "I'm just asking you what you think."

"Of course I don't think they killed her." Prim hoped she sounded even more convinced than she felt. "She's probably sick or she went back home or something. I'm sure everything is fine."

"But there's something off with them girls," Katniss said reflectively, more to herself than Prim. "There's something not quite right."

"They're just pretty girls. That's all."

"But nobody knows where they came from." Katniss insisted.

"It's tourist season. Nobody knows where anybody's from." Prim rounded a corner and turned to her sister, meaning to admonish her for feeding the gossip.

"Watch out!" Katniss screamed, and Prim slammed on the brakes just in time to stop herself from driving over Rue and Clove.

For a minute neither Prim nor Katniss could say anything, not that Prim could hear anything over the pounding of her own heart. Rue and Clove just stood directly in front of the Sable, staring through the windshield at them.

When Glimmer knocked on the window next to Katniss, they yelped in surprise. Katniss glanced back at Prim, as if unsure of what to do.

"Roll down the window." Prim said hurriedly, and Katniss complied. She leaned forward and forced a smile at Glimmer. "Sorry about that. We didn't see you there."

"It's no problem." Glimmer smiled broadly, oblivious to the rain pouring down her blond hair. "We were just looking for directions."

"Directions?" Prim asked.

"Yeah, we got a little lost, and we wanted to go back to the bay." Glimmer leaned her slender arms on the car and looked down at Katniss. "You know how to get down to the bay, don't you? We always see you there."

"Uh, yeah." Katniss pointed straight ahead of them. "Just go three blocks down, then make a right on Seaside Avenue. That'll take you right there."

"Thanks," Glimmer said. "Will you be down at the bay tonight?"

"No," Katniss and Prim said in unison, and Katniss shot her sister a look before going on, "It's no fun to swim in all this rain."

"Why not? The water's still wet." Glimmer laughed at her own joke, but Katniss didn't say anything. "Oh. Well. I'm sure we'll be seeing you around anyway. We'll keep and eye out for you."

She winked at Katniss, then straightened up and stepped back from the car. Katniss rolled up the window, but Rue and Clove were slow to move out from in front of the car. For a moment Prim was afraid that'd she would have to throw her car in reverse to get away from them.

When they finally stepped out of the way, Prim had to fight the urge to floor it away from them. Instead she offered them a small wave, but Katniss stayed rigid in her seat, refusing to acknowledge the girls.

"That was bizarre," Prim said as they drove away her heart began to slow.

"And creepy," Katniss added. When Prim didn't say anything, Katniss glared over at her. "Oh, come on. You have to admit that it was creepy. Why else wouldn't you have offered them a ride home?"

Prim gripped the steering wheel and floundered for an excuse. "They seemed to enjoy the water."

"Whatever." Katniss rolled her eyes. "They came out of nowhere. You saw that! They were behind us, and then suddenly they were in front of us. They're like….. Supernatural."

"They took a shortcut," Prim argued lamely as she pulled into the driveway next to her fathers beat-up Ford F-150.

"Prim!" Katniss groaned. "Can you stop being logical for a second and admit that those girls give you the creeps?"

"There's nothing to admit," Prim lied. She turned off the engine and changed the subject. "Are you going to have dad look at your car?"

"Tomorrow, when it's not raining." Katniss grabbed her gym bag from the backseat. She hopped out of the car and ran into the house, and Prim hurried behind her.

As soon as they'd pulled up in the driveway, Prim had had the strangest feeling that they were being followed, and she couldn't shake it.

When she went inside, she locked the front door behind her, and listened to Katniss and Brian chat about the day.

The house already smelled like pizza, thanks to Brian's homemade sauce. But despite the cozy atmosphere, Prim couldn't help herself. She peered through the peephole in the door and scanned the street around them, but saw nothing. It took about fifteen minutes for her to settle into being home, and she still couldn't convince herself that they weren't being watched.


	5. Mother

Chapter 4

Mother

"Sorry, honey, but this is an all-day project," Brian said with his head under the hood of Katniss's Chevy. Black - presumably oil or other car fluids - smudged his arms stained his old work shirt.

"I understand," Prim said. She hadn't expected a different answer from him, but that didn't stop her from asking. "Maybe another time."

Brian didn't look up at her. All his attention seemed to be focused on the engine, but he always managed to find something to occupy him on Saturdays so he wouldn't have to go with Katniss and Prim.

'okay." Prim sighed and twisted her own car keys in her hand. "I guess we'll get going, then."

The screen door slammed, and Prim glanced back at Katniss, who'd just stepped outside. Katniss wore dark oversized sunglasses, but her lips were pressed into a thin line, so Prim knew she was glaring at their father.

"He's not coming, is he?" Katniss asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"not today," Prim said gently, trying to calm her sister.

"Sorry, babe." Brian pulled his head out from under the hood and gestured to the sun shining overhead. "I want to get this looked at while the weather holds."

"Whatever," Katniss scoffed and stalked up to Prim's car.

"Katniss!" Prim called after her, but Katniss just shook her head.

"Let her go." Brian told Prim.

Katniss got In the car, slamming the door loudly. Prim knew she was upset, and she even understood it, but that didn't mean Katniss should act so rude.

"Sorry, dad.:" Prim smiled wanly at him. "She's…" She waved her hands in the air, unsure exactly how to describe Katniss.

"No, it's okay." Brian squinted up at the sun for a moment, then turned back to the car. He had a wrench in one of his hands, and he tapped it absently against the car. "She's right, I know it, and you know it. But I . . ."

He didn't say anything, and his shoulders slacked. His expression tightened, hardening as he tried to hold his emotions in. Prim hated to see her father like that and wished she could say something to make it better.

'I understand, dad," Prim insisted. "I really do." She reached out, touching him on the shoulder, before being interrupted by the loud blast of her car horn.

"She's waiting for us Prim!" Katniss shouted from the car.

"Sorry." Prim stepped backward, going to her car. "I got to go. We'll be back later."

"Take your time," Brian said, He bent over the engine, keeping his back to Prim. "Have fun."

Prim wanted to say more to her dad, but with the way Katniss was acting, she didn't want to push it. Katniss was impatient to begin with, but when she was upset on top of that, she could be downright impossible.

"You are so rude," Prim said as soon as she got in the car.

"I'm rude?" Katniss asked in disbelief. "I'm not the one who's bailing out on mom."

"Shh!" Prim started the car and turned on the stereo, hoping to drown out Katniss so Brian wouldn't hear. "He's staying back to work on your car."

"No he's not." Katniss shook her head. She leaned back in the seat, her arms crossed firmly over her chest. "He could work on my car any other day. He's staying back the same reason he stays back every Saturday."

"You don't know what it's like for him."

As they pulled away from the house, Prim looked up in her rearview mirror. Brian was standing in the driveway, appearing uncharacteristically lost.

"And he doesn't know what it's like for us," Katniss countered. "The point is that it is hard for all of us, but we make it work."

"Everybody deals with things in their own way," Prim said. "We can't force him to visit her. I don't even know why it's bothering you so much today. It's been over a year since he seen her."

"I don't know." Katniss admitted. "Sometimes it just gets to me. Maybe today it was because he was using me as an excuse not to see mom."

"You mean because he's fixing your car?"

"Yeah."

"She'll still be happy to see us." Prim glanced over at Katniss and tried to smile at her, but Katniss was staring out the window. "It doesn't matter if anyone else comes or not. We're doing the best we can by her, and she knows it."

Every Saturday that the weather permitted, Prim and Katniss made a twenty-minute drive to the group home up in Briar Ridge. It was the closest group home specializing in traumatic brain injury, and that was where their mother had lived for the past seven years.

One day nine years ago, Nathalie had been driving Prim to a pizza party when a drunk driver sideswiped them. Prim had been left with a long scar running down her thigh, but her mother had ended up in a coma for nearly six months.

Prim had been convinced she would die, but Katniss had never given up hope. When Nathalie finally came out of it, she barely remembered how to speak or do basic self-care. She stayed in the hospital for a long time, relearning how to do everything. Over time, some of her memories came back.

But she never was quite the same. Her motor skills were very poor, and her ability to remember and reason were drastically impaired. Nathalie had always been caring and loving, but after the accident, she struggled to empathize with anyone.

After a brief but chaotic stint keeping her at home, Brian eventually had to move Nathalie into the group home.

From the outside, the home looked like an ordinary rambler. It was nice without being overly so, and even on the inside it wasn't that different. Nathalie shared the home with two other roommates, and the home had twenty-four-hour staffing.

As soon as Prim pulled into the driveway, Nathalie burst out the front door, running toward them. That was a good sign. Sometimes when they came she would just sit in her room, crying quietly the entire time.

"My girls are here!" Nathalie clapped her hands together, barely containing herself as they got out of the car. "I told them you were coming today!"

Nathalie threw her arms around Prim, squeezing her so tightly it hurt. When Katniss came around the car, Nathalie pulled her into the embrace, holding them uncomfortably close.

"I'm so glad my girls are her," Nathalie murmured. "It's been so long since I've seen you."

"We're glad to see you too," Katniss said, once she'd pulled herself free from Nathalie's hug. "But we were here just last week."

"Were you really?" Nathalie narrowed her eyes and looked over the girls, as if she didn't quite believe them.

"Yes we visit you every Saturday," Prim reminded her.

Nathalie's brow furrowed in confusion, and Prim held her breath, wondering if she'd done the right thing by correcting her mom. When she was confused or frustrated, Nathalie's temper had a tendency to get the best of her.

"You look really nice today." Katniss said, rushing to change the subject.

"Do I?" Nathalie looked down at her Justin Bieber T-shirt and smiled. "I do love Justin."

While Rim had taken more after their father, Katniss got her full looks from Nathalie. She was slender and beautiful, looking more like a model than a mother. She kept her brown hair long, covering the scars etched on her scalp from the accident. A few locks had been put in narrow braids, and a strand in her bangs had been srung with hot pink beads.

"You both look so good!" Nathalie admired her daughters and touched Katniss's bare arm. "You're so tan! How do you get so tan?"

"I spend a lot of time in the water," Katniss said.

"Right, right, right." Nathalie closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. "You're a swimmer."

"I am." Katniss smiled and nodded, proud of her mother for remembering something she'd told her a thousand times before.

"Well, come in!" Nathalie erased the pained expression from her face and gestured toward the house. "I told them you were coming today, so they let me make cookies! We should eat them while they're still warm."

She looped her arm around Katniss's shoulders, walking with her into the house. The staff greeted them, and by now they knew more about Katniss's and Prim's lives than Nathalie did.

Not that Nathalie didn't try to learn about her daughters. She just couldn't remember.

Nathalie claimed that she'd made the cookies, but the Chips Ahoy! Wrapper sat right next to the plate she dumped them on. She did that a lot, for reasons Prim didn't completely understand. Nathalie would lie about little things, making claims that Prim and Katniss knew weren't true.

At first they'd call her on it. Prim would calmly explain why they knew it wasn't true, but Nathalie would get irate when caught in a lie. She'd once thrown a glass at Katniss. It missed her but had shattered against the wall and cut Katniss's ankle.

So now they simply smiled and ate the cookies when Nathalie talked about how she'd made them. She grabbed the plate of cookies and led the girls back to her bedroom.

"It's so much better in here," Nathalie said, shutting the door behind them. "Without people watching over us."

Nathalie sat back on her narrow twin bed, and Katniss sat next to her. Prim stayed standing, never feeling quite comfortable in her mothers room.

Posters covered the wall - mostly of Justin Bieber, Nathalie's current favorite - but there was also a poster for the last Harry Potter movie and one of a puppy cuddling with a duck. Stuffed animals littered the bed, and the clothes overflowing the hamper had more color and glitter than the average adult wardrobe.

'Do you guys want to listen to music?" Nathalie asked. Before either of them could answer, she jumped off the bed and went over to her stereo. "I just got some new Cds. What do you like to listen to? I have everything."

"Whatever you want is fine," Katniss said. "We came here to visit you."

"You guys can pick something." Nathalie smiled, but there was something sad about it. "They won't let me listen to it too loud, but we can still listen to it softly."

"Justin Bieber?" Prim suggested, not because she wanted to hear it, but because she knew it was something Nathalie would have.

"He's the best, isn't he?" Nathalie actually squealed when she hit play and the music came out of the speakers.

She hopped on the bed next to Katniss, making the cookies bounce off the plate. Katniss picked them up, arranging them the same way her mother had them, but Nathalie didn't even notice.

"So, mom, how are things going?" Prim asked.

"Same old." Nathalie shrugged. "I wish I lived with you guys."

"I know." Prim said. "But you know it's best for you here.

"Maybe you can come visit," Katniss aid. It was an offer she'd been making for years, but Nathalie hadn't been home in a very long time.

"I don't want to visit." She pouted, sticking out her bottom lip and pulling at the hem of her T-shirt. "I bet you guys have fun all the time. Nobody tells you what to do."

"Prim tells me what to do all the time." Katniss laughed. "And of course there's dad."

"Oh, right," Nathalie said. "I forgot about him." Her forehead pinched in concentration. "What's his name again?"

"Brian." Prim smiled to hide the hurt and swallowed hard. "Dad's name is Brian."

"I thought it was Justin." She waved her hand, brushing off the subject. "Did you guys want to go to the concert with me if I can get tickets?"

"I don't think so," Prim said. "We've got a lot going on."

The conversation went on that way for a while. Nathalie asked about the girls' lives, and they told her things they'd told her a hundred times before. When they left, Prim felt the same way she always did - drained but relieved.

She loved her mother, just as Katniss loved her mother, and they were both glad they saw her. But Prim couldn't help wondering what any of them got out of this.


	6. Stargazing

Chapter 5

Stargazing

The garbage can smelled like a dead animal. Katniss wrinkled her nose and tried to avoid gagging as she tossed the bag in the can behind her house. She had no idea what her father or Prim had thrown away, but it was pretty rank.

Waving her hand in front of her face, she stepped away. Katniss breathed in the fresh night air as deeply as she could.

She glanced over at the neighbors' house. Lately she found herself glancing at it more and more, as if subconsciously looking for Marvel. This time she was in luck. In the glow of her backyard light, she saw Marvel sprawled out on his lawn, staring up at the sky.

"What are you doing?" Katniss asked, walking into Marvel's backyard without waiting to be invited.

"Looking at the constellations," Marvel said, but she'd already known the answer before she'd asked. For as long as she'd known them, he'd spent more time with his head in the stars than here on the ground.

He lays on his back, his fingers latched behind his head, and old blanket beneath him. The Batman T-shirt was actually a bit small for him, a leftover from before his recent growth spurt. The muscles in his arms and his broad shoulders pull at the fabric. The T-shirt had been pulled up a bit, so she could see a hint of his belly above his jeans, and Katniss quickly looked away and pretended she hadn't noticed.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Uh, no. Of course not." Marvel quickly scooted over, making room for her on the blanket.

"Thanks."

The blanket wasn't very big, so when Katniss sat down, she was right next to him. As she laid back, her head bumped his elbow. To avoid that, Marvel moved his arm so it was between them. Now his arm was presses against hers, and she tried not to think about how warm his skin felt.

"So… what exactly are you looking at?" Katniss asked.

"I've shown you the constellations before," Marvel said, and he had, many times. But most of those times had been when she was younger and she hadn't hung on his words like she did now.

"I was just wondering if there was anything in particular you were watching."

"No. No really. I just love the stars."

"Is that what you're going to college for?"

"Stars?" Marvel asked. "Kind of, I guess. I mean, it's not like I'll be an astronaut or anything."

"Why not?" She tilted her head so she could look over at him.

"I don't know." He shifted on the blanket, and his hand brushed against Katniss's. "Going into outer space is an awesome dream, yeah, but I'd rather stay on the ground and make a difference. I want to study and track the weather and the atmosphere. It could save lives if people knew about storms sooner."

'You'd rather be down here watching the sky instead of up in it because you can help people?" Katniss asked.

She stared at him, surprised by how much he'd grown up. Not just in the strong line of his jaw, or the trail of dark hair she'd seen on his belly. But something had changed inside him. At some point he'd stopped being the boy who obsessed over video games and had become somebody concerned with the world around him.

"Yeah." He shrugged and turned to face her. They lay on the blanket staring at each other for a minute, and then Marvel smirked. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm not looking at you like anything," Katniss said, but she quickly looked away, afraid that he might see something in her expression.

"You think it's weird, right?" Marvel asked, still watching her. "You think I'm a geek for wanting to watch the weather patterns."

"No, that's not what I'm thinking at all." She smiled out of embarrassment over what she was really thinking. "I mean, you are a geek. But that's not what I was thinking."

"I am a geek," Marvel agreed, and Katniss laughed. Then, apparently without thinking, he said, "You're really pretty."

The instant he said it, he turned away from her rigidly.

"I'm sorry. I can't believe I just said that. I don't know why I said that," Marvel said in one rushed breath. "I'm sorry."

Katniss lay there for a minute, staring up at the stars while Marvel squirmed in embarrassment next to her. She didn't say anything at first, because she wasn't sure what to say or what to make of his random admission.

"Did you… you just called me pretty," Katniss said finally, her tone questioning.

"Yeah, I didn't…" Marvel sat up, as if trying to put some distance between them. "I don't know why I said that. It just slipped out."

"It just slipped out?" Katniss said teasingly and sat up next to him.

He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees, and kept his back to her. "Yeah." He sighed. "You laughed, and I just thought you looked really pretty, and for some reason, it just… I just said it. It was like I forgot how to control my mouth or something."

"Wait." She smiled, the kind of smile she couldn't contain. "You think I'm pretty?"

"Well, yeah." He sighed again and rubbed his arm. "Of course I do. I mean, you are very pretty. You know that." He looked up at the sky and cursed under his breath. "I don't know why I just told you that."

"It's okay." Katniss moved closer to him, sitting next to him but slightly behind him, so her shoulder pressed up against his. "I think you're pretty, too."

"You think I'm pretty?" Marvel smiled and turned to look at her, so his face was right in front of hers.

"Yep," She assured him with a grin.

"I'm a guy. Guys aren't pretty."

"You are." Her smile softened, giving way to a slightly nervous and hopeful look.

Marvel's dark eyes searched her face, and he paled. He looked downright terrified, and even though the moment felt perfect, Katniss was starting to think he wouldn't take it.

Then he leaned in and his lips presses softly against hers. The kiss was small and sweet, almost innocent, but it felt like fireworks inside her.

"Sorry," Marvel said when he stopped kissing her and looked away.

"Why are you apologizing?" Katniss asked.

"I don't know." He laughed. He shook his head and looked back at her, smiling at him. "I'm not sorry."

"Me neither."

Marvel leaned in to kiss her again, but before he could, Brian yelled from the house behind them.

"Katniss!"

That was all it took to ruin the moment. Marvel jumped away from Katniss like he'd been shocked.

Katniss got up more slowly than he had, offering him an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

"Yeah, no, it's okay." Marvel rubbed the back of his head and refused to even look the direction of Katniss or her father.

"I'll see you later?" Katniss asked.

"Yeah, yeah, of course." He nodded quickly.

Katniss hurried back over to her house, where her father stood at the back door, holding it open. When she went inside, Brian stood outside a minute longer, watching Marvel as he awkwardly tried to fold the blanket.

"Dad!" Katniss shouted at him.

Brian waited a beat before coming in. He closed the back door behind him and locked it, then flipped off the outside light. When he came into the kitchen, Katniss was pacing and chewing her fingernails.

"You don't have to check up on me, you know."

"You went out fifteen minutes ago to take out the garbage." Brian leaned against the counter. "I was simply making sure you hadn't been kidnapped or attacked by rabid raccoons."

"Well, I wasn't." Katniss stopped moving and took a deep breath.

"Do you want to tell me what was going on out there?"

Her eyes widened. "No!"

"Look, Katniss, I know your sixteen, and you're going to start dating." He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "And Marvel isn't a bad kid, exactly. But he's older and you're too young for certain things -"

"Dad, we just kissed. Okay?" Katniss's face pinched with discomfort over discussing the topic with her father.

"So you're… seeing him now?" Brian asked carefully.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "We just kissed."

"And that's all you should do," Brian said. "He's leaving in a couple of months, and you're too young to really commit to anything. Plus you have your swimming to focus on."

"Dad, please," Katniss said, "Let me figure this out on my own. Okay?"

"Okay," He said reluctantly. "But if he touches you, I'll kill him. And if he hurts you, I'll kill him."

"I know."

"Does he know that?" Brian gestured to Marvel's house next door. "Because I can go over and tell him that myself."

"No, dad!" Katniss held up her hands. "I've got it. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed so I can get up early tomorrow to swim."

"Tomorrow's Sunday. The pool's closed."

"I'll go out to the bay. I skipped tonight, and I want to be in the water."

Brian nodded, letting the conversation go, and Katniss hurried up to her room. The light shone beneath Prim's bedroom door, signaling she was still up, probably reading a book. Katniss snuck into her room quietly, so as not to alert her sister.

From her bedroom window, Prim might have been able to see Katniss and Marvel kiss, or she might've overheard Katniss and her father talking about it. And the last thing Katniss wanted to do was rehash it with Prim, especially when she had no idea how she felt about it herself.

Katniss flopped back on the bed. Plastic stars were stuck to her ceiling, and only a couple of them still managed a dim glow. She stared at them, smiling because they reminded her of Marvel.

Prim had been the one to put the stars up when Katniss had been eight and suffered from serious night terrors. Marvel had helped, though, mapping out the constellations with as much accuracy as he could manage.

It was so weird thinking of him now. Katniss had been use to having him around as a nerdy friend of her sister's. But now when she thought of him, her heart would beat faster and a warm feeling would grow from her belly.

Her lips still tingled from the kiss, and she wondered when she'd be able to kiss him again. She stayed up late, replaying their moments under the stars over and over again in her head. When she finally fell asleep, she did so with a smile on her face.

The alarm next to her bed jolted her awake in the morning. The sun was just starting to rise, shining bright orange through her curtains. The snooze button was tempting, but she'd already missed a full day of swimming, so she really had to make up for it.

By the time Katniss was up and ready, the whole town of Capri was bathed in the warm sunlight. Both Prim and her dad were still asleep, and she left them a note on the fridge reminding them she'd gone to Anthemusa Bay.

She blasted Lady Gaga on her Ipod and hopped on her bike. It was still early, so the rest of the town was asleep. Katniss liked it better that way, when the streets weren't filled to the brim with tourists.

The trip to the bay seemed to go more quickly than normal. Pedaling seemed easier. Katniss felt like she was floating on a cloud. One simple kiss from Marvel had somehow made the whole world lighter.

Since she rode her bike, she couldn't swim at the spot with the cypress trees like she usually did. Her bike couldn't make it up that pat, and there was no place for her to lock it up. Instead she went up to the docks, near where her father worked.

Technically, people weren't suppose to swim there, since it was dangerous, with all the boats, but she didn't plan to actually swim there. After she locked up her bike, she would dive in and swim out where it was safer. Nobody was really out this early to catch her anyway.

Katniss parked her bike next to the post on the dock. Once she'd strip down to her bathing suit, she shoved her jean shorts, tank top, and flip-flops in the backpack she'd brought with her. She looped her bike chain through the backpack's straps and secured it with the bike, locking up everything tightly.

She ran to the end of the dock and dove in. The morning air still had a chill to it, and the water was a tad icy, but Katniss didn't mind. It didn't really matter what the temperature was or what the water was like. Katniss never felt more at home than when she was in the water.

She spent as much time swimming as she could, but by late morning the bay had started to get crowded. It was shaping up to be a beautiful warm day, so the beach was full. The water closer to the dock had filled up with boats heading out to sea, and Katniss knew she had to head back in or risk getting run over with a propeller.

The ladder at the end of the dock was missing a few rungs, so she struggled to pull herself up. She was just about to hoist herself over the end of the dock when somebody stuck a hand in her face. The nails were long and manicured, painted blood red, and the skin smelled of coconuts.

With salty water dripping down her face, Katniss looked up to see Rue standing right in front of her, her hand outstretched toward Katniss.

"Need a hand?" Rue asked, smiling in a way that reminded Katniss of a hungry animal.


	7. Cornered

Chapter 6

Cornered

Rue was the closest to Katniss, but the other two girls stood right behind her. Katniss had never been this near Rue before, and her beauty was even more intimidating up close. Rue was flawless. She looked like an airbrushed model on the cover of Maxim.

"Did you need help?" Rue asked more clearly, as if she thought Katniss were deaf since she hadn't done anything except gape at her.

"No, I'm okay." Katniss shook her head.

"Suit yourself." Rue shrugged and moved back so Katniss could climb up.

Katniss had hoped for something more graceful since she'd declined help, but with the top rung of the ladder missing, all she managed was a flop onto the dock. Katniss was acutely aware that she probably looked like a fish flapping about, and she got to her feet as quickly as she could.

"We've seen you swimming out here a lot," Rue said.

Katniss had heard her speak once before, and it still surprised her how Rue sounded. Her voice was that sexy baby-talk that usually drove Katniss nuts, but something silky underneath it made Rue's words strangely beautiful and enticing.

In fact, just hearing Rue talk washed away some of the negative feelings Katniss had about the three girls. They still freaked her out, but her fear had lessened.

"I'm sorry." Rue smiled at her, revealing bright white teeth that seemed abnormally sharp. "You probably have no idea who we are. I'm Rue, and these are my friends, Glimmer and Clove."

"Hi." Glimmer wagged her fingers at Katniss. Her blond hair glinted like gold in the sunlight, and her eyes were the same aqua shade as the ocean.

"Hey," Clove said. Even though she smiled, she seemed annoyed even to be talking to Katniss. She stared off at the ocean and ran her hand through her red waves of hair.

"And you're Katniss, right?" Rue asked when Katniss didn't say anything.

"Yep, I am." Katniss nodded.

"We've seen you around, and we like your style," Rue went on.

"Thanks?" Katniss questioned, uncertain what to make of that.

She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling naked around the three girls. Katniss knew she was pretty, and sometimes when she dolled up she thought she was downright hot. But standing next to Rue, Glimmer, and Clove, she felt clumsy and unattractive.

Water dripped off her body and onto the wooden planks beneath her feet, and all she could think about was getting to her clothes and putting them on.

"We love going swimming out in the ocean at night," Rue said. "There's something truly exhilarating about it."

"It's amazing," Glimmer chimed in, sounding a little too enthusiastic about it. Rue shot Glimmer a look, and Glimmer lowered her eyes.

"Um… yeah." Even though Katniss agreed with them, she was afraid to admit it. It felt like Rue was setting some sort of trap she didn't understand.

"We'd love it if you'd join us for a swim," Rue said, smiling wider.

"I… I don't think so. Sorry." Katniss couldn't really think of an excuse to give them, but there was no way she would accept an invitation to join them doing anything.

"How about an afternoon swim them?" Rue asked. "We were thinking of taking a dive right now. Weren't we?"

"I've got my bikini under my dress," Glimmer said and gestured to the slinky sundress she wore.

"Well, I just got out," Katniss said. "And I'm about to get dressed."

She pointed to her bike, and then, seeing her chance to escape, walked over to it. Katniss had expected them to give up once she'd turned them down, but apparently that was wishful thinking. Rue followed her down the dock.

"I know you love to swim, and I'd really love it if you joined us," Rue said. "If today doesn't work, then let me know when you can."

"I don't know." Katniss fumbled with her bike lock. Rue stood behind her, casting a shadow over her as Katniss crouched next to her bike. "I've got a lot of training to do."

"You can't train all the time," Rue said. "All work and no play makes a Jack a dull boy."

"I play," Katniss insisted.

Finally managing to unlock her bag, she grabbed it and stood up. Her urge to get dressed had gone away, though. All she wanted to do was throw the bag over her shoulder, hop on the bike, and ride far away from Rue and her hungry smile.

"You really need to go swimming with us." Rue's voice was like silk, but it was clearly a command. Her dark eyes looked on Katniss's, burning with an intensity that took her breath away.

A splash from behind them momentarily broke Rue's concentration, but the distraction was long enough for Katniss to catch her breath and look away.

Rory stood on the dock a little way down for them, water dripping down his bare chest and long swim trunks. Katniss knew him from when she visited her father on the docks, but she hadn't found a reason to resent him the way Prim had.

"Is there something wrong?" Rory asked, wiping the water from his face. Without waiting for them to answer, he started walking to where Rue, Glimmer, and Clove had Katniss surrounded.

"Everything's just fine," Glimmer said brightly and smiled at him. "You can go about your business."

"I don't think so." Rory kept walking, ignoring Glimmer. When he got close enough, he shouldered Glimmer out of the way and looked down at Katniss. "Are you okay?"

"We said she was fine," Rue said icily.

"I didn't ask you." Rory cast her glare before he turned back to Katniss and softened his gaze. Katniss stood dripping wet, clutching her bag to her chest. "Come on. Why don't you come on my boat and dry off?"

"Go about your business," Glimmer said again, but she sounded more confused than angry. Like she didn't understand how he could ignore her.

Rory gestured for Katniss to come with him. As Katniss hurried over to him, she couldn't shake the feeling that Rue wanted to rip Rory's head off, in a very literal sense. Once they slipped away from the girls, Rory put his arm around her. Not a romantic gesture, but like he meant to protect her.

As they walked over to his boat, Katniss felt Rue's eyes burning into her back. Glimmer called after her, saying that they'd see her again, and something about her voice felt like a song.

Katniss almost turned around to go back to them after she heard Glimmer, but Rory's arm around her kept her from it.

Once they got on the boat, Rory helped Katniss onto it. Since Rue, Glimmer, and Clove were still standing on the dock watching them, he suggested they go down into the cabin. Katniss didn't normally go into get onto boats with older guys she barely knew, but given the circumstances, she felt like he was the safer bet.

His boat was rather small, so the living quarters were pretty cramped. A twin bed across from a small table with cushioned benches on either side. A kitchenette with a mini fridge and tiny sink. A bathroom and some storage nooks at the other end, and that was about it.

The bed was unmade, and clothes were strewn over it. Dirty dishes were in the sink, and a few empty soda cans and beer bottles were sitting on the counter and table. A stack of books and magazines rested next to the bed.

"Have a seat." Rory gestured to the bed, since the benches next to the table were mostly covered in clothes and books.

"Are you sure?" Katniss asked. "I'm wet."

"Nah, it's fine. It's a boat. Everything's always wet." He grabbed a couple of towels and tossed one to her. "There you go."

"Thank you." She ran the towel through her hair and sat back on his bed. "And I don't mean just for this. Thank you for… well, rescuing me I guess."

"It was no problem." Rory shrugged and leaned against his kitchen table. He wiped a towel over his chest, then ran a hand through his short hair, messing it up and spraying salt water. "You looked so terrified."

"I wasn't terrified," Katniss said defensively.

"I wouldn't blame you if you were." He leaned farther back, looking through one of the cabin windows behind him. "Those girls give me the creeps."

"That's what I said!" Katniss shouted, excited to hear someone agree with her. "My sister told me that I was being mean."

"Prim?" Rory looked back at Katniss. "She likes those girls?"

"I don't think she likes them, exactly." Katniss shook her head. "She thinks I should be respectful of everyone."

"Well that's a good philosophy." He reached over and opened the mini fridge. "Want a soda?"

"Sure."

After Rory grabbed two cans of grape soda, he handed one to Katniss and kept one for himself. He sat on the able and crossed his legs underneath him. Katniss wrapped her towel around her shoulders and opened the soda.

She looked around the cabin, checking out his bare furnishings. "How long have you lived here?"

"Too long." He said after taking a long swallow of his soda. "I think I'd like to live on a boat someday. But like a houseboat."

"I would diffidently recommend living on something larger, if you can." Rory gestured to the tight space. "And it can be a bit rough staying out here when the sea gets choppy. I've been out here so long, though, I doubt I could even sleep on land. I need the water to rock me to sleep."

"That would be nice." She smiled wistfully as she imagined sleeping on the bay. "Did you always love the ocean?"

"Uh… I don't know." Rory crinkled his brow as if he hadn't thought of it before. "I guess I've always liked it."

"How did you end up living on a boat, then?"

"It's not very romantic," He warned her. "My grandpa died and left me this boat. I got evicted from my apartment and needed a place to crash. And here we are."

"Katniss!' Someone shouted from outside the boat, and Rory and Katniss exchanged a confused look. "Katniss!"

"Is that your sister?" Rory asked.

"I think so." Katniss set down her can and headed out to the deck to see what Prim was carrying on about.

Prim stood on the dock next to Katniss's bike holding the bike chain in her hand. Her dark hair was in a ponytail, which swung back and forth as she looked around frantically.

"Katniss!" Prim yelled again, the tremor in her voice betraying her fear.

Katniss went over to the railing and looked down at her sister. "Prim?"

"Katniss!" Prim turned to face her, relief washing over her until she saw Rory standing on the boat behind her. "Katniss! What are you doing?"

"I was just drying off," Katniss said. "Why are you freaking out so bad?"

"I came to see you if you were coming home for lunch, and I found your bike chain unhooked on the dock, like something happened when you were locking it up-, and I couldn't find you, and now you're on his boat!" Prim stomped toward Rory's boat, clenching the bike chain in her fist. "What were you doing?"

"Drying off," Katniss repeated, growing annoyed with her sister for making a scene.

"Why?" Prim demanded and pointed at Rory. "He is bad news!"

"Thanks," Rory said wryly, and Prim glared at him.

"Look, I'll get on my bike, and we'll go home, and you can be a total spaz there," Katniss said.

"I am not being a spaz! Prim shouted, then stopped and took a deep breath. "But you're right, We will talk about this at home."

"Yay." Katniss sighed. She took the towel from around her shoulders and handed it back to Rory. "Thanks."

"No problem. And sorry if I got you in trouble."

"Ditto," Katniss said, offering him a small, apologetic smile.

Katniss threw her backpack onto the dock, then hopped over the railing after it. She took her chain from Prim, grabbed her bag, and went down to her bike to put her clothes on before she rode home.

"You are a disgusting pervert," Prim snarled at Rory and pointed her finger at him. "Katniss is only sixteen years old, and even though you have some sort of Peter Pan complex, you are still a twenty-year-old man. You are too old to be messing around with her."

"Oh, please." Rory rolled his eyes. "She's just a kid. I wasn't hitting on her."

"That is not what it look like from here." Prim crossed her arms. "I should report you for living on this stupid boat and for your abhorrent behavior hanging around with under aged girls."

"Do what you got to do, but I'm not a creep." He leaned against the railing and looked down at Prim. "Those girls were hassling your sister, and I stepped in to get her away from them."

"What girls?" Prim asked.

"Those girls." Rory waved vaguely. "I think the head on is names Rue or something."

"The really pretty girls?" Prim tensed up.

She hadn't thought Rory had done anything to Katniss, not really, but at the mention of Rue, her stomach tightened.

"I guess." Rory shrugged.

"They were messing with Katniss?" She glanced back at Katniss, who was putting on her tank top and appeared unharmed. "How?"

"I don't know exactly." He shook his head. "But they had her surrounded, and she looked scared. I just don't trust them, and I didn't want them around her. I asked her on my boat to hide out until they left, and you showed up like ten minutes later. That's all that happened."

"Oh." Prim felt bad for yelling at him now, but she didn't want to let on. "Well. Thank you for looking out for my sister. But you shouldn't have her on your boat."

"I hadn't planned on making a habit out of it."

"Good." Prim shifted her weight, still trying to look indignant. "I think she's seeing someone anyway."

"Prim, I already told you, I'm not into your sister." Rory smirked. "But if I didn't know any better, I would say you were jealous."

"Oh, please," Prim wrinkled her nose. "Don't be disgusting."

Rory laughed at her protests, and for some reason, Prim began to blush.

Katniss sped past her on her bike, shouting a good-bye to Rory as she did. With her sister gone, Prim didn't really have any reason to wait around on the dock, but she stayed behind for a moment, trying to think of something to snap at Rory for. When she couldn't come up with anything, she turned and left, acutely aware that her was watching her walk away.


	8. Picnic

Chapter 7

Picnic

Capri had been founded by Thomas Thermopolis in southeastern Maryland on June 14, 1802, so every fourteenth of June the town held a celebration in his honor. Most of the stores in town closed for it, as they would for any other major holiday. It had become nothing more than a big picnic with a few rides and concessions, but everybody turned out, both the townies and the tourists alike.

Marvel had invited Katniss to go with him, and she didn't know exactly what that meant. Since he had invited just her and not Prim, too, she was inclined to think it meant something, but she was too afraid to ask.

The car ride was awkward, almost comically so. Neither of them really said anything, aside from Marvel stammering out a few comments on how he hoped they would have fun.

When they parked, he ran around the car to open the door for her, and that was actually when Katniss started to relax. He'd never opened the door for her before. Something had diffidently changed.

The Founder's Day Picnic took place in the park in the center of town. A couple rides were set up, like the Tilt-A-Whirl and the Zipper. The midway cut through the center, lined with the usual carnival games. Picnic tables and blankets were spread out over the rest of the area, broken up by a few food and drink stands.

"Did you want to play a game?" Marvel asked Katniss as they walked down the midway. He gestured to the ring toss next to them. "I could win you a goldfish."

"I don't think that'd be fair to the goldfish," Katniss said. "I've had about a dozen of them, and they all seem to die within days of me getting them."

"Oh, yeah." Marvel smiled crookedly. "I remember you making your dad bury them out in the backyard."

"They were my pets, and they deserved a proper burial."

"I better be careful around you." Marvel stepped back from her cautiously, giving her a wide berth. "You're a goldfish, mass murderer. I don't know what you're capable of."

"Stop!" Katniss laughed. "I didn't kill them on purpose! I was little. I think I overfed them. Out of love, though."

"That's even scarier," He teased. "Do you plan to kill me with kindness?"

"Maybe." She narrowed her eyes at him and tried to look menacing, making him laugh.

Marvel walked close to her again. His hand brushed against hers, and Katniss took the opportunity to slip her fingers through his. He didn't comment on it, but he gave her hand the slightest squeeze. Warm tingles swirled inside her, and Katniss tried not to smile too widely at the effect from that simple touch.

"So goldfish are out," Marvel said. "What about teddy bears? Would stuffed animals be safe around you?"

"Probably," She allowed "But you don't need to win me anything."

"You want to walk around for a while?" Marvel asked, looking down at her.

"Yeah." She nodded, and he smiled.

"Okay. But if you want anything, just say the word, and I'm on it. I'll win you anything your heart desires."

Katniss didn't want him to win her anything because that meant he would have to stop to play a game and let go of her hand. She was content to walk around all day with him. Just being with him delighted her in a way she hadn't thought possible.

They'd walked a little farther down the midway when they came across Haymitch Abernathy. He stood in front of the game where the object was to pop balloons with a dart to win a prize. Despite the heat, he wore a sweater, and he squinted at the balloons below his shaggy eyebrows.

"Mr. Abernathy." Katniss smiled and stopped when they got close to him." What brings you here to mainland?"

"Oh you know," He said, his voice lilting with a faded British accent. He pointed to the balloons with his plastic darts. "I've been coming to the Founder's Day Picnic for fifty-four years and winning cheap junk from these games. I wasn't about to miss this one."

"I see." Katniss laughed.

"And what about you, Mss Everdeen?" Haymitch asked, looking at Marvel then back at her. "Does your father know you're out with a boy?"

"Yeah, he knows," Katniss assured him and squeezed Marvel's hand.

"He better." Haymitch gave them a stern look until Marvel lowered his eyes. "I sill remember when you were this big" -He held his hand up to his knee- "And you thought boys were gross." He paused to appraise her and smile. "You kids grow up so fast."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"It's how it goes." He waved his hand, brushing off her apology. "How is your father? Is he here?"

"No, he's at home today." Katniss's smile faltered. Her father rarely came out to stuff like this anymore, not since her mom's car accident. "He's doing good, though."

"Good. Your father's a fine man, a real hard worker." Haymitch nodded. "It's been too long since I've seen him."

"I'll tell him you said that," Katniss said. "Maybe he'll head out to the island and visit you."

"I would like that." Haymitch held her eyes when he smiled, his own eyes filmy with cataracts and a little sad. Then he shook his head and turned back to the game. "Anyway, I should let you kids get back to your fun."

"All right, good luck with your game," Katniss said as she and Marvel started walking away. "It was nice seeing you."

When they'd gotten far enough away from him, Marvel asked her, "That was Haymitch from Haymitch's Island, right?"

"Sure was."

Haymitch lived on a small island a few miles off Anthemusa Bay. The only thing on it was the log cabin and boathouse that Haymitch had built fifty-some years ago for himself and his wife. His wife had died shortly after that, but Haymitch stayed there just the same.

Since the only person who lived on the island was Haymitch, the people of Capri had taken to referring to it as Haymitch's Island. That wasn't the official name, but that was how everyone knew of it.

After Katniss's mother's car accident, her dad had a tough time. He used to take Katniss and Prim out to Haymitch's Island, and Haymitch would watch them while her dad went off to deal with things of his own.

Haymitch was always kind to them, and not the creepy-old-man way. He was funny, and he let the girls have a free run of the island. That was when Katniss had really developed her love of the water. She spent long summer afternoons out at the bay, swimming around the island.

In fact, if it wasn't for Haymitch and his island, she might have not become the swimmer she was today.

WITH PRIM

"What's going on with Marvel and your sister?" Cashmere asked and Prim lifted her head to see Katniss and Marvel holding hands as they walked down the midway.

"I don't know." Prim shrugged.

She and Cashmere were playing beanbag toss next to a picnic table, until Cashmere had gotten distracted.

"You don't know?" Cashmere turned back to Prim.

"No, Katniss's being really vague on details." Prim threw her beanbag at the goal, intent on continuing the game even if Cashmere was hung up on something else. "I know they kissed the other day because dad saw them, but when I asked Katniss about it, she wouldn't tell me anything. I think they might be dating."

"Your sister is dating your best friend, and you don't know what's going on?" Cashmere asked.

"Katniss never wants to tell me about her boyfriends." Prim sighed. Katniss had had all of two of them before, but she was always secretive about her crushes. "And I haven't really asked Marvel about it. I feel a little weird bringing it up."

"Because you have a thing for him," Cashmere said.

"For the millionth time, I don't like Marvel that way." Prim rolled her eyes. "It's your turn by the way."

"Don't change the subject."

"I'm not." Prim sat back on the picnic table behind them, since Cashmere clearly didn't plan on playing until they discussed things. "I've never had anything other than platonic feelings for Marvel. He's geeky and awkward and just a friend."

"Guys and girls can't be friends," Cashmere insisted. "You really need to watch, When Harry Met Sally."

"Brothers and sisters can be just friends, and Marvel is like a brother to me," Prim explained. "Which is the only reason why this is so weird for me. Because a guy that's like my brother is dating my actual sister."

"That's gross."

"Thanks. Can we get back to the game now?" Prim asked.

"No, this game is boring, and I'm starving." Cashmere had the beanbag in her hand, and she gave it a half-assed toss to the side. "Let's get some cheese curds."

"You're the one that wanted to play this," Prim said as she got off the picnic table.

"I know. But I didn't realize how boring it was."

Cashmere walked through the park, pushing people if they were in her way. Prim followed more slowly behind her, glancing back over her shoulder to see if she could catch a glimpse of Katniss and Marvel together.

Originally, Katniss was going to go with Cashmere and Prim to the picnic, but this morning Marvel had called over to invite her to go with him. That was when Prim had tried to talk to Katniss about him, but Katniss had refused to give her any details.

Prim was so busy looking for them that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going, and she bumped right into someone, knocking an ice-cream cone out of his hand and smashing it all over his shirt.

"Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry," Prim said hurriedly, trying to wipe to chocolate ice cream off his T-shirt.

"You really do hate me, don't you?" Rory asked, and Prim realized with dismay that he was the one she'd covered with ice cream. "I mean, destroying someone's ice-cream cone? That's vicious.

Her cheeks reddened. "I didn't see you there. Honestly." She wiped at his shirt more frantically, as if she could prevent it from staining if she rubbed it hard enough.

"Oh, now I see your plan, and it's far more devious than I thought." Rory smirked. "You were looking for an excuse to grope me."

"I was not!" Prim instantly stopped touching him and took a step back.

"Good. Because you need to buy me dinner first."

"I was only…" She gestured to his shirt and sighed. "I am sorry."

"I'm covered in chocolate. Why don't you apologize while we go get some napkins?" Rory suggested.

Prim went with him over to the concession stand, where he grabbed a stack of napkins. Taking a handful from him, she walked to a drinking fountain, and Rory followed her.

"I am sorry." Prim repeated. She wet her napkins under the fountain as he wiped at his shirt.

"I didn't actually mean for you to keep apologizing. I know it was an accident."

"I know, but…" She shook her head. "I didn't even properly thank you for helping out my sister, and then I attacked you with your own ice cream."

"That's true. You are a menace and must be stopped."

"I know you're teasing, but I feel bad."

"No, I'm dead serious. I should report you for your abhorrent behavior," Rory said with a straight face, telling her the same thing she'd told him the day before.

"Now you're making me feel worse." Prim looked down at her shoes and balled up the wet napkins in her hands.

"That's my plan," Rory said. "I like to guilt pretty girls into going out with me."

"Smooth." Prim narrowed her eyes at him, unsure if he was kidding or not.

"That's what the ladies tell me." He grinned at her, and his hazel eyes had a gleam to them.

"I'm sure they do." She said skeptically.

"You do owe me an ice cream, you know."

"Oh, right, of course." She dug in her pocket for some money. "How much was that? I can give you cash for it."

"No, no." He waved his hand, stopping her when she pulled out a few crumpled-up dollar bills. "I don't want you money. I want you to have ice cream with me."

"I, uh…" Prim fumbled for a reason not to.

"I see how it is." His eyes flashed something that might've been hurt, but he lowered them before she could be sure. His smile disappeared, though, and he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"No, no, it's not that I don't want to," Prim said quickly, and she was surprised to find that she meant it.

Between his being gracious in the face of her verbal assaults and helping out her sister, Rory had begun to grow on her. And that was precisely why she couldn't take him up on his offer.

Despite his charms, he still lived on a boat, and from the scruff on his chin, it looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days. He was immature and probably lazy, and she was leaving for school in a couple of months. She didn't need to get mixed up with a slacker on a boat just because he was kinda funny and cute in a grungy sort of way.

"My friend is waiting for me somewhere," Prim continued to explain and gestured vaguely out at the crowd. Cashmere was probably somewhere eating cheese curds. "I was following her when I bumped into you. She doesn't even know where I'm at. So… I should go find her."

"I understand." Rory nodded, and his smile had returned. "I'll take an IOU, then."

"An IOU?" She raised an eyebrow. "For ice cream?"

"Or any meal of equal value." He squinted, thinking about what that would be. "Maybe a smoothie. Or a large coffee. But not like a full meal with fries and a salad." He snapped his fingers as he thought of something. "Soup! A cup of soup would work, too."

"So I owe you one food offering that's equal to ice cream? Prim asked.

"Yes. And the repayment can happen at your earliest convenience," Rory said. "Tomorrow or the next day or even next week. Whenever works for you."

"Okay. That sounds like a… deal."

"Good," He said as she started walking away from him. "I'll hold you to it. You know that, right?"

"Yes, I do." Prim said, and a part of her actually hoped he would.

She weaved her way through the picnic, and it didn't take her long to find Cashmere. She was sitting at a picnic table with Katniss and Marvel, which would've been nice if Marvel's friend Cato Benfield Hadn't joined them.

Prim actually slowed down when she saw Cato. And not just things are a little weird between them. Whenever Cato and Marvel got together, they tended to go into computer geek mode, talking only in tech terms that Prim didn't understand.

"So when are you going to make an honest woman out of Katniss here and win her a prize?" Cashmere was asking Marvel when Prim reached the table.

"Um…" Marvel's cheeks darkened a little at the question, and he rubbed his hands together nervously.

"I told him not to win me a prize." Katniss cut in, rescuing him from embarrassment. "I'm a modern girl. I can win my own prizes."

"You probably stand a better chance since you're the athlete," Cashmere said, popping a cheese curd in her mouth. "Marvel looks like he throws like a girl."

Cato chuckled at that, as if he stood a chance of throwing better than Marvel. He twisted the huge Green Lantern ring he wore on his finger and laughed so hard he snorted a little.

"Like you can talk Cashmere." Prim said and sat down on the bench next to her, across from Cato. "I saw the way you tossed a beanbag. Marvel could probably kick your butt."

Katniss gave her a grateful smile for coming to Marvels aid. Prim noticed that she's put her hand on his leg, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Where were you, by the way?" Cashmere looked over at Prim, unfazed by her comments. "You just disappeared."

"I ran into someone I know." Prim evaded the question and turned her attention to Katniss and Marvel. "How is the picnic treating you guys?"

"Good." Cato said. "Except I should've worn more sunscreen" His pale skin seemed to reflect the light, and the blond curls on his head were frizzing out. "I'm not used to this much sun."

"Do you live in a dungeon, Cato?" Cashmere asked. "I'm only asking since you're skinny and pale, and it looks like your parents might keep you chained in a basement."

"No." Cato scowled, then pointed to the Canadian flag on her shirt. "I thought Canadians were suppose to be nice."

"I'm not Canadian," Cashmere corrected him. "I'm just wearing this shirt to express my anti-patriotism."

"You really are a charming girls, you know that, Cashmere?" Marvel said.

Cashmere shrugged. "I do what I can."

Since the park was filled with pretty much everybody in town, it had been buzzing with sounds of talking and music. But somewhat abruptly, the area around the picnic tables seemed to grow quiet, as if everyone were speaking in hushed tones and whispers.

Prim looked around to see what had happened and instantly saw the reason for the silence. The crowd had parted, making way for Rue, Glimmer, and Clove, who were heading straight for Prim and Katniss.

Rue wore a dress so low-cut her chest was all but popping out. When she stopped at the end of the picnic table, she put her hands on her hips and smiled down at them.

"How are you guys doing?" She asked, surveying the table.

"Great," Cato said eagerly, oblivious to the tension that hung over them. "I'm, uh, I'm having a great time. You guys look great. I mean, you look like you're having a great time."

"Why, thank you." Rue looked at him, licking her lips hungrily as she smiled.

"You're not so bad yourself." Glimmer added.

She reached over and tugged one of his curls, pulling it like a spring so it would bounce back. Cato looked down and giggled in a ay that was reminiscent of a schoolgirl.

"Is there something you want" Katniss asked.

Prim noticed that when Rue's dark eyes latched onto Katniss's, her sister lifted her chin higher, as if defying her in some way. Then Prim saw something that made her blood run cold -Rue's eyes changed, shifting from near black to an odd golden color, reminding Prim of a bird.

Her weird bird eyes stayed locked on Katniss, but Katniss's expression didn't change, as if she didn't notice the startling shift in Rue's eyes.

As suddenly as they changed, Rue's eyes went back to their normal soulless color. Prim blinked and glanced around, but nobody else seemed to notice the change. They all just stared at Rue as if memorized, and Prim wondered if it'd just been her imagination.

"Nope." Rue raised one of her shoulders, managing a seductive shrug. "I just wanted to stop and say hi. We don't know many people here in town yet, and we're always looking to make new friends."

Clove didn't look like she wanted to make new friends, though. She stood off to the side, a bit back from Rue and Glimmer. She twirled her long red hair around her finger, and wouldn't look at anyone at the table.

"You already have friends," Prim said to Rue and nodded to Glimmer and Clove.

"You can always have more though, right?" Rue asked, and Glimmer winked at Cato, making him giggle again. "And we could diffidently use a friend like Katniss."

Prim was about to ask Rue exactly what she meant by that, wondering what on earth they could possibly want with her little sister, but Cashmere cut her off.

"Wait," Cashmere said through a mouthful of cheese curds. "Didn't there use to be a fourth one?" She gulped down her food and stared up at them. "What did you guys do with her? Did you eat her? And then throw her up afterward, because obviously, you guys are bulimic."

Rue shot her a glare so fierce it actually made Cashmere cringe. She lowered her eyes and pulled cheese curds closer to her, as if she thought Rue might steal them from her.

"So have you guys tried out the rides yet?" Prim asked, in an attempt to keep Rue from slaughtering Cashmere. After that look, Prim thought it would be better if she kept the conversation banal instead of confronting Rue about her interest in Katniss.

Rue's icy expression instantly melted, and her saccharine smile returned. Prim noticed that Rue's teeth were unusually sharp. In fact, if Prim didn't know any better, she'd say that her incisors had actually grown and gotten more pointed than they had a few seconds ago.

"No, we just got here," Rue explained in her silky baby-talk. "We haven't had a chance to check anything out yet."

As she spoke, some of the unease Prim had been feeling when she noticed her smile vanished. Cashmere even seemed to relax a bit and braved looking up to Rue again.

"I'd really love to win a teddy bear," Glimmer said, her voice going singsong as she spoke.

Both Marvel and Cato looked at her, and Cato's mouth fell open, like he was in awe.

Prim had her arms on the table in front of her, and she leaned forward. She couldn't explain it, but she found herself hanging on her every word, as if Glimmer were the most fascinating person she'd ever heard. Even the people around them seemed to move in closer, crowding around to get closer to Glimmer.

"What do you think?" Glimmer tilted her head and looked down at Cato. "Could you win me a teddy bear?"

"Yeah!" Cato shouted in excitement and got to his feet so quickly he nearly fell over the bench. "I mean, yes. I'd love to win you a teddy bear."

"Yay!" Glimmer smiled and looped her arm through his.

People parted for them again as Glimmer and Cato walked through the crowd towards the midway. Clove followed them, but Rue stayed behind, smiling down at the table. Marvel stared after Glimmer, watching until she disappeared in the crowd, and Katniss would've noticed, if she hadn't been busy doing the same thing.

"Well, I'll leave you to enjoy the rest of the afternoon," Rue said. It sounded as if Rue were speaking to everyone at the table, but she was only looking at Katniss. "I'll see you around."

"Have a fun time," Marvel mumbled, his words coming out a little dazed. Rue laughed, then turned and walked away.

"That was weird," Prim said once Rue had left.

She shook her head, clearing away this fog she didn't understand. It almost felt as if she'd been dreaming, like Rue had never even really been there.

"I do think they killed her." Cashmere narrowed her eyes and nodded to herself. "There's just something about those girls I don't trust."


	9. Lost

Chapter 9

Lost

"Where's your sister?" Brian threw open Prim's bedroom door, banging the doorknob into the plaster.

"What?" Prim rubbed her eyes and rolled over in bed to face her father. "What are you talking about? What time is it?"

"I just got up for work, and Katniss isn't here."

"Did you check her room?" Prim asked, slowly becoming alert.

"No Prim, I thought I'd check your room first," Brian snapped.

"Soryy, dad, I just woke up." She sat up and swung her feet over the edge of the bed. "She went out swimming last night. She probably just lost track of time."

"Until five in the morning?" Brian asked, the worry in his voice unmistakable.

But Prim knew he's been through this once before. When she and her mother had gotten into the car accident. They'd left for a few hours in the evening, and Brian didn't hear anything from them until the hospital called the next morning saying his wife was in a coma.

"She's fine," Prim said, hoping to ease her dad's fears. "I'm sure she just got sidetracked. You know Katniss."

"Yes, I do, and that's why I'm worried."

"Don't. Katniss's fine." Prim ran her hand through sleep-disheveled hair and tried to calm Brian. "I'm sure she's with Marvel or napping on the beach or something."

"You think telling me she's out with Marvel will make me feel better?" Brian asked, but he actually did seem to calm a little. Being out with a boy was a much more favorable alternative to being hurt or dead.

"She's fine," Prim repeated. "Get ready for work. I'll go track her down."

Brian shook his head. "Prim, I can't go to work when my daughter is missing."

"She's not missing," Prim insisted. "She just stayed out too late. It's not a big deal.

"I'll drive around and look for her," Brian said as he started to leave her room.

"Dad, you can't miss work. You already missed too much when you sliced open your arm in February. You can't lose your job."

"But…" Brian trailed off, knowing she was right.

"I'm sure Katniss is okay," Prim said. "She'll probably be home any second. You go to work. Give me a chance to look for her, and if I can't find her in the next two hours, I'll come get you. Okay?"

He stood indecisively in Prim's doorway, looking pale and gaunt. Brian clearly wanted to go track down his daughter, but he knew Prim was probably right. He couldn't risk his job and being able to support his family just because Katniss stayed out too late.

"All right." He pursed his lips. "See if you can find her. But if you haven't heard from her by seven, you come get me. Okay?"

"Yes, of course." Prim nodded. "I'll call you as soon as I find her."

Once he turned and left her room, Prim let her own panic set in. She didn't want Brian to worry unnecessarily, but that didn't mean she wasn't scared herself. It wasn't like Katniss to stay out past curfew. Katniss liked to push the rules, but she rarely broke them.

Prim went over to her window and pulled back the curtains, looking out at Marvel's house. His car was in the driveway, so that meant he wasn't out with Katniss. Prim grabbed her cell phone off her nightstand and dialed his number anyway.

"Hello?" Marvel answered groggily after the fifth ring.

"Is Katniss with you?" Prim blurted out and paced her bedroom.

"What?" Marvel asked, and his voice suddenly became clearer. "Prim? What's going on?"

"Nothing." She took a deep breath and stifled the urgency in her words. She didn't need to scare him, too. "I just wanted to know if Katniss was with you."

"No," Marvel said. Through her bedroom window, Prim saw the light turn on in his room next door. "I haven't seen or talked to her since I dropped her off at your house last night. Is she okay?"

Prim held the phone away from her mouth and swore under her breath. Marvel would never keep Katniss out all night, and she should've know that.

If Katniss had been with him, he would've insisted that she get home right on time. Not just because it was the right thing to do, but because he was afraid of the incurring wrath of Prim and Brian.

"Yeah, no, I mean, I'm sure she's fine." Prim replied quickly. "But I have to go, okay, Marvel?"

"What? No, it's not okay. Where's Katniss?"

"I don't know. That's why I have to go. I'm going to look for her. I mean, I know she's fine, but I have to find her."

"I'll go with you," Marvel offered. "I'll put on some pants and meet you outside."

"No, don't." She shook her head, even though he couldn't see it. "You stay here incase she comes back. You can keep an eye on the house."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Prim sighed. "Watch out for her, and if she contacts you, let me know, okay?"

"Yeah, I can do that. And you tell her to call me as soon as you find her."

"Will do."

Prim hung up the phone without waiting for him to say anything more. She knew where she had to look, and it twisted her stomach in knots. Katniss had gone out to the bay last night, alone, and she hadn't retuned.

Still in her pajamas, Prim slipped on her flip-flops and ran down the stairs. She moved fast in the hope that she wouldn't have time to think about all the horrible things that could've happened to Katniss. Drowning. Kidnapping. Murder. Heck, even a shark attack was possible.

"Did you find her?" Brian shouted from the bathroom. He'd heard Prim flying down the stairs.

"Not yet!" Prim yelled back up to him and grabbed her car keys off the rack by the door. "I'm going out now. I'll call you later!" She jogged out to her car.

As she sped through town, Prim looked around as much as she could. Katniss could've just easily gotten hurt on the way to or from the bay. But somehow Prim knew that wasn't what happened. The terrified pit in her stomach insisted that it was something else, something worse.

Since Katniss had ridden her bike last night, Prim went down to the docks where Katniss usually parked in. She raced down the worn wooden planks, praying the bike wasn't there. If it was gone, it meant Katniss had left, that she'd gone somewhere else.

As soon as she saw the bike, all locked up with Katniss's backpack, her heart dropped. Katniss was still out in that water, as she had been for the past eight or nine hours.

Unless…..

Prim whirled around and found The Dirty Gull moored in the same spot as always, just a few feet down from where Katniss had locked up her bike.

"Rory!" Prim shouted and ran over to his boat. "Rory!" She reached out for the railing and tried to climb up. "Rory!"

"Prim?" Rory called. He opened the cabin door and stepped out, buttoning up the pair of jeans he'd just pulled on.

Prim was trying to pull herself up over the railing, but the boat was too far away from the dock. Her foot slipped off the edge, and one of her flip-flops fell off and splashed into the water. She would've fallen in right after it if Rory hadn't come over and grabbed her arm.

He wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders and lifted her up, pulling her over the railing. To do that, he had to press her against his bare chest. Prim was cold from her panic and the morning air, and his skin felt warm against her.

"What are you doing here?" Rory asked when he released her.

"Is Katniss here?" Prim asked, but by the confused expression on his face, she already knew the answer.

"No." He shook his head, and his brow furrowed with worry. "Why would she be here?"

"She didn't come home last night. And…" Prim pointed at the bike chained to the dock. "Her bike's still here, and she has swim practice in two hours. Katniss never misses practice." A shutter ran over her body, and her stomach lurched. "Something's wrong."

"I'll help you find her." Rory said. "Let me go grab a shirt and shoes."

"No." She shook her head. "I don't have time to wait."

"You're obviously crazy with worry." He gestured to her as she stood trembling on his boat. "You need someone with a clearer head. I'm going with you."

Prim thought about arguing with that, but she just nodded. The urge to panic was all but taking over, and it was hard for her to keep from sobbing. She did need somebody less frantic to help her.

Rory went below decks and came up a minute later. A minute felt like hours to Prim. Hours she spent staring out at the dark sea around them, wondering if Katniss's body was floating out in it somewhere.

"Okay," He said as he pulled a T-shirt over his head. "Let's go."

He jumped onto the dock first, then took Prim's hand to help her off the boat. When he'd fished her flip-flop out of the water, she'd protested, but Rory insisted that it would slow her down if she had to hobble around without it.

"Where do you want to look?" Rory asked as they walked up the dock, back toward land.

"I think we need to check the shore." She swallowed hard, realizing what she was suggesting. "She may have washed up…"

"Is there any certain part that she likes more?" Rory asked. "Maybe somewhere she would have gone to rest if she got too tired for the ride home?"

"I don't know." Prim shook her head and shrugged. "I thought she might have gone to your boat, since she trusts you. But… I don't know. I have no idea what she could've been doing out all night on the water."

"Well, I do have ideas." She sniffled and rubbed her forehead. "The only things I can think of aren't pretty, though. She has no good reason to be out here. Katniss would only stay if something bad happened or someone hurt her."

"Hey." Rory touched her arm, causing Prim to look up at him. "We'll find her, okay? Just think about places she would go if everything was all right. What does Katniss do out here? Where does she go?"

"I don't know!" Prim repeated, exasperated and terrified. She looked away from him and out to the bay, trying to think. "She loves coming out here to swim at night. She likes to go out past that rock over there."

She pointed to a huge rock in the water on the other side of the bay. Prim and Katniss had had a few races to that rock, with Katniss always coming out the winner.

"She likes the other side of the bay more?" Rory asked.

"Kind of," Prim admitted. "Tourists and boats don't go out there because of all the rocks, and she likes how deserted it is."

"So if she was going to take a break, it would be over there."

"Yes!" She nodded excitedly, realizing what that meant. "When she drives, she parks over there, by the cypress trees."

It would be faster to drive over there than to walk, so Prim ran back out to her car, with Rory close behind. To get around the bay, Prim drove as fast as she could, which meant running a few stop signs and cutting across the grass.

Once she got to the beach, she was grateful that Rory had rescued her flip-flip. The shore was covered in sharp rocks, and it would've been nearly impossible to navigate barefoot. Or at least it would've been for her. Prim knew the rocks would not have intimidated Katniss.

She made it out to the edge of the shore, past the trees, so she could have a clear view of the coast line all the way down to the cove. Rory came up behind her and pointed to a blob of black a ways down.

"What is that?" He asked, but Prim didn't wait to answer. She went so fast she tripped on the rocks a few times and fell once, tearing open her knee. Rory followed her as quickly as he could, but he moved at a more cautious pace.

When she was close enough that she could tell for sure, Prim started calling out Katniss's name. She could see it was her sister, lying on her back and tangled in something that resembled a gold fishing net. But Katniss didn't respond.


	10. Hangover

Chapter 10

Hangover

"Katniss!" Prim screamed and collapsed next to her sister, ignoring the rocks stinging her skin. "Katniss, wake up!"

"Is she alive?" Rory asked, standing behind Prim and staring down at Katniss.

It really didn't look good. Katniss's skin was drained of color, so she looked almost blue. Bruises and scratches covered her arms, and blood had dried on her temple. Her lips were chapped and dry, and seaweed untangled her hair.

And then, even though Prim didn't really think she would, Katniss groaned and turned her head to the side.

"Katniss." Prim brushed back the hair from Katniss's forehead, and her eyes fluttered open.

"Prim?" Katniss asked, her voice coming out in a croak.

"Oh thank God." Prim let out a deep breath, and relieved tears filled her eyes. "What happened to you?"

"I don't know."

Wincing as she moved, Katniss tried to stand, but the rocks were too uneven. When she started to stumble, Rory put his arm underneath her legs and scooped her up. Katniss shifted and tried to hang onto him for support, but her arms were too tangled up in the mesh wrapped around her.

"Let's get her back to the car," Prim suggested, and Rory nodded.

One the realization that Katniss was alive settled in, Prim wanted to sob and scream at her. But Katniss still seemed so weak and out of it that she didn't want to interrogate her.

Prim had parked as close as she could get, which meant that she'd parked on the unruly beach grass lining the shore. Rory set Katniss down on her feet once they got to the car, and she managed to stand up on her own. The mesh was pretty tangled around her, and Prim and Rory intervened to help her get it off.

"What is this?" Prim asked. "Did you get caught in a fishermen's net? Is that what happened to you?"

"This isn't a net." Rory shook his head. Once they'd set Katniss free from it, he ran it through his hands, admiring the strange texture of it. "At least not any net I've ever seen."

"No, it's not a net." Katniss put her hand on the car to steady herself and leaned against it. "It's a shawl or something."

"A shawl?" Prim asked. "Where did you get a shawl?"

Katniss grimaced, hesitating before reluctantly admitted. "Rue."

"Rue?" Prim was nearly shrieking. "What the heck were you doing with Rue?"

"You really should stay away from those girls," Rory said solemnly. "They are… there's something off about them."

"Believe me, I know." Katniss muttered.

"So what were you doing with them?" Prim asked. "What did you do last night?"

"Can we talk about this later, please?" Katniss begged. "My head is pounding. My body hurts all over. And I'm so thirsty, it's unbelievable."

"Do you need to go to the hospital?" Prim asked.

Katniss shook her head. "No, I just need to go home."

"If you're fine, then you're going to tell me what's going on." Prim crossed her arms over her chest.

"I was out swimming last night, and…" Katniss trialed off and stared at the sun rising over the bay, as if trying to remember exactly what had happened last night. "I went out to the cove, and Rue, Glimmer, and Clove were… partying out there."

"They were partying?" Prim asked, and now she was totally gob smacked. "You partied with those girls last night?"

"Yeah," Katniss answered uncertainly. "I mean, yes. I think."

"You think?" Prim shook her head.

"Yeah, they invited me to join them, and I just had one drink. But it must've been really strong. It was only one drink, I swear."

"You drank?" Prim's eyes widened. "Katniss! You can get kicked off the swim team for that. And you have practice in an hour, which you clearly can't handle today. What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't!" Katniss yelled. "I honestly don't know what I was thinking! I have no idea how any of it happened last night. I remember having one drink, and then I woke up on the rocks. I don't know what happened, and I'm sorry."

"Get in the car." Prim said through clenched teeth, too pissed off to even yell.

"I really am sorry." Katniss repeated.

"Get in the car!" Prim shouted, and Rory flinched.

"Thanks for… helping," Katniss mumbled to Rory and stared down at her feet.

"No problem." He said. She tried to open the car door and almost fell over, so he went over and held it open for her. "Get some rest and drink plenty of fluids. Hangovers are a bitch, but you'll survive."

Katniss smiled thinly at him and climbed into the car. Once she was safely inside, he shut the door and turned his attention back to Prim. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she glared down at her sister in anger and disbelief, but when Rory looked at her, she smiled sheepishly.

"I'm really sorry for dragging you out to help me pick up my drunk sister. I mean, thank you. I appreciate it, but I'm sorry for bothering you."

"No, it was no bother." Rory grinned. "I was just thinking to myself how tedious it is sleeping until after the sun comes up."

"Sorry," Prim said again. "I should probably let you go back to sleep."

"All right." Rory nodded and took a step back from the car. "But, take it easy on her, okay? She's just a kid. They screw up sometimes."

"I didn't." Prim walked around the front of the car to the driver's side.

"Really?" He stopped to arch an eyebrow at her. "You never screwed up?"

"Not like that." She gestured to the car, where Katniss had her forehead rested against the glass. "I never stayed out all night or got drunk. I maybe overslept for school once."

"Oh, wow." Rory smirked and looked genuinely surprised. "That's actually a little sad. I mean, good for you, not drinking. But a life without any mistakes?" That doesn't sound any fun at all."

"I've had fun." Prim bristled, and Katniss groaned in the car, interrupting her argument with Rory. "I should really get home, though."

"Right, of course." He gave her a small wave and backed away. "I won't keep you from your duty."

"Thanks." Prim smiled at him.

As soon as she got in the car, her smile and any sense of happiness evaporated. Her relief at finding her sister alive had turned into full-blown-anger.

"I don't understand how you could do this," Prim said as she put the car in drive and pulled away from the bay. "Dad almost called out of work to look for you. He could've lost his job over this."

"I'm sorry." Katniss squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her forehead, as if she wished Prim would just stop talking.

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Katniss!" Prim shouted. "You could've died! Do you understand that? You almost did die. I don't even know what happened or how you're still alive. How could you do that? How could you put yourself in that situation?"

"I don't know!" Katniss lifted her head. "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't know?"

"As many times as it takes until it starts making sense!" Prim shot back. "This isn't like you. You hate those girls and you hate drinking. Why were you hanging out with them? Why would you risk yourself for people you don't even like?"

"Prim!" Katniss snapped. "I don't remember last night. I don't have any answers, no matter how many times or how many different ways you ask me. I already told you everything I know!"

"You know you are so grounded, right?" Prim asked. "You're never going back to that bay after what happened the night before, right?" Prim asked.

"Yes, I know." Katniss rested her head on her arm. Katniss thinks of all the time she spent down at the bay, the only thing she can barely think about.

"And I don't know when you'll ever be able to see Marvel again." Prim sighed. "He was worried about you too, you know."

That was all that was said between the two before they got home.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." Katniss tells Prim as son as they step foot in the house.

"Okay." Prim says as she settles down onto the couch.

Katniss holds onto the railing of the stair, barely making it up to the top of the stair case, when she makes it to the bathroom. Katniss turns on the shower, the hot water full on, then steps in.

Immediately the hot water relaxes her muscles. But then she feels a warm, tingling feeling in her legs, and like something flopped off of her leg. She looks down, but sees nothing, nothing on her leg, the floor of the shower, nothing. So she continues washing off, then when she is finished, she walks into her room to find Prim sitting there.

"Yeah?" Katniss asks, drying her hair off with a towel. Prim looks up with tears in her eyes, but quickly blinks them back. Katniss walks over to the bed and sits down beside her.

"Please, just please, don't do this ever again." Prim begs, getting really emotional. Katniss hugs her, shushing her until Prim quiets.

'Don't worry about it Prim. I don't even know what compelled me to do it. Like I was in a trance…" Katniss drifts off. Prim, noticing the change in her voice, hops up off the bed.

"I'll let you sleep. Then maybe you will remember something when you do wake up." She say. Katniss, grateful for the opportunity, hops right on it and smiles at Prim.

"Okay. Goodnight." She calls after Prim as Prim struts out of the room, closing the door behind her.


End file.
